>  FEB  27  1909  *i 


BV  660  ,M67  1908 
Mott,  John  Raleigh,  1865- 
1955. 

The  future  leadership  of  th 
church 


THE    FUTURE    LEADERSHIP 
OF   THE    CHURCH 


BOOKS   BY  JOHN    R. 

MOTT 

STRATEGIC  POINTS    IN   THE 

WORLD'S 

CONQUEST. 

THE  EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  WORLD 

IN  THIS  GENERATION. 

THE    STUDENTS    OF    NORTH 

AMERICA 

UNITED. 

THE  PASTOR  AND  MODERN 

MISSIONS. 

THE 

FUTURE  LEADERSHIP 

OF  THE  CHURCH 


By  JOHN  R.  MOTT,  M.A. 

GENERAL  SECRETARY  OF  THE  WORLD'S 
STUDENT     CHRISTIAN     FEDERATION 


*    MAR   1  19( 


A 


NEW   YORK 

STUDENT    DEPARTMENT 

YOUNG    MEN'S   CHRISTIAN    ASSOCIATION 

1908 


Copyright,  1908,  by 
STUDENT  VOLUNTEER  MOVEMENT 


PREFACE 

This  book  is  addressed  to  the  leaders  of  the 
Church,  both  ministers  and  laymen,  and  to  all 
others  who  are  deeply  interested  in  the  prog- 
ress of  Christianity.  It  is  largely  the  result 
of  investigations  carried  on  during  the  past 
six  years  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  These 
studies  were  undertaken  at  the  suggestion  of 
several  ministers  who  had  been  impressed  by 
the  successful  efforts  of  the  Student  Volunteer 
Movement  in  enlisting  strong  men  as  volun- 
teers for  the  foreign  mission  fields  and  who 
were  burdened  with  a  sense  of  solicitude  be- 
cause of  the  dearth  of  able  candidates  for  the 
home  ministry. 

The  sources  of  information  consulted  and 
the  methods  employed  in  the  investigation  may 
be  briefly  indicated.  Conferences  have  been 
held  with  companies  of  the  foremost  ministers, 
theological    professors,    editors    of    religious 


Vi  PREFACE 

periodicals,  and  officers  of  denominational  so- 
cieties in  different  parts  of  North  America, 
Europe,  Australasia,  and  South  Africa,  as  well 
as  on  all  the  principal  foreign  mission  fields. 
Correspondence  har,  been  conducted  with  hun- 
dreds of  the  ministers  of  the  various  Christian 
bodies.  Discussions  have  been  carried  on  at 
many  conventions  of  theological  students; 
also,  in  universities  of  different  countries,  with 
young  men  intending  to  become  ministers. 
Even  more  suggestive  have  been  the  free  and 
frank  discussions  with  selected  groups  of 
young  men  planning  to  devote  their  lives  to 
teaching,  law,  medicine,  literature,  engineer- 
ing, and  other  lay  pursuits.  The  thousands  of 
interviews  held,  during  a  period  of  twenty 
years'  work  in  colleges,  with  young  men  who 
have  come  to  talk  over  their  life-work  plans 
have  been  made  tributary  to  this  investigation. 
With  the  aid  of  special  helpers  there  have  been 
examined  the  proceedings  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical gatherings,  the  year-books  and  the  peri- 
odicals of  all  the  leading  denominations  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  as  well  as  the 
reports  of  societies  dealing  with  questions 
bearing  on  candidates  for  the  ministry,  cov- 


PREFACE  vu 

ering  a  period  of  one,  and  in  some  cases,  two 
or  three  generations.  Similar  but  less  ex- 
tensive investigations  have  been  made  in 
some  foreign  countries.  Time  has  been  spent 
in  libraries  which  possess  the  most  complete 
book  and  pamphlet  literature  on  the  subject 
of  the  discovering,  enlisting,  and  training  of 
candidates  for  the  ministry. 

Comparatively  little  of  the  material  accumu- 
lated is  used  in  the  book.  Some  may  question 
why  more  of  the  statistical  data  has  not  been 
employed;  but  the  further  I  proceeded  in  the 
examination  of  statistics,  the  stronger  became 
the  impression  that  in  many  cases  generaliza- 
tions drawn  from  such  material  would  be  mis- 
leading or,  at  any  rate,  confusing,  and  would 
raise  more  questions  than  they  would  answer. 
This  is  due  to  marked  differences  in  various 
sections  of  the  same  country,  in  the  character 
of  various  types  of  colleges,  in  the  terminology 
and  practices  of  various  denominations,  and  in 
the  conditions  which  characterize  different 
periods  in  rapidly  changing  countries  like  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  While  the  minute 
study  of  the  evidence  obtained  in  such  an  in- 
vestigation has  been  of  distinct  help  both  in 


viii  PREFACE 

creating  and  in  correcting  impressions,  it  has 
seemed  best  not  to  present  at  this  time  many- 
statistical  statements,  because  the  reader,  with- 
out the  opportunity  of  going  over  the  detailed 
data,  might  easily  be  led  to  wrong  conclusions. 
A  further  reason  for  this  course  is  the  desire 
to  fix  attention  not  so  much  on  the  numerical 
aspect  of  the  question  under  discussion  as  on 
that  of  the  character  or  quality  of  the  men 
needed  for  the  ministry  at  this  time,  for  while 
the  question  of  quantity  has  a  practical  bear- 
ing on  that  of  quality,  it  is  not  essential  to  the 
present  inquiry. 

The  larger  part  of  the  material  here  used 
was  first  presented  in  lectures  given  during  the 
past  winter  and  spring  at  Toronto  under  the 
auspices  of  the  five  theological  colleges — Knox, 
McMaster,  Trinity,  Victoria,  and  Wycliffe; 
at  Berkeley,  California,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  theological  seminaries  of  the  Pacific  Coast ; 
and  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  Theological  Department  of  Van- 
derbilt  University.  These  lectures  have  been 
completely  revised  and  enlarged  by  the 
use  of  many  new  facts  and  additional  consid- 
erations. 


PREFACE  IX 

I  find  it  difficult,  in  fact  impossible,  to  ex- 
press adequately  my  sense  of  obligation  and 
gratitude  to  the  many  ministers,  professors, 
editors,  and  leading  laymen  who  by  giving 
valuable  information  as  well  as  discerning 
criticism  and  generous  encouragement  have 
facilitated  the  work  of  preparation. 

John  R.  Mott 

New  York,  November,  1908 


# 


CONTENTS 

1  PAGE 

THE  PROBLEM  3 

II 
THE  URGENCY \^ 

III 
THE  OBSTACLES 57 

IV 

THE  FAVORING  INFLUENCES      .  .  .    105 

V 

THE  PROPAGANDA I4I 


THE  PROBLEM 


THE    PROBLEM 

To  secure  able  men  for  the  Christian  ministry 
is  an  object  of  transcendent,  urgent,  and  world- 
wide concern.  It  involves  the  life,  the  growth, 
the  extension  of  the  Church — the  future  of 
Christianity  itself. 

The  Church  is  a  divine  institution,  founded  by 
Christ  and  the  Apostles.  It  has  done  more  to 
purify,  enrich,  and  strengthen  mankind  than  have 
all  other  movements.  It  is  still  the  most  pow- 
erful and  beneficent  agency  for  promoting  the 
cause  of  morality  and  religion.  It  has  ever  been 
and  yet  is  not  only  an  ameliorating  force  that 
makes  life  tolerable,  but  an  inspiring  force  that 
makes  life  progressive.  Take  the  Christian 
Church  out  of  society  and  it  collapses.  The 
Church  furnishes  the  springs  of  life  and  power 
for  all  other  beneficent  institutions  and  move- 
ments. It  is  the  root ;  they  are  the  branches.  Its 
3 


4    FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

work  is  the  most  enduring;  it  deals  with  the  in- 
destructible part  of  man.^ 

It  is  evident  that  no  society  of  men  can  hold 
together  and  can  realize  great  objects  without 
thoroughly  qualified  leaders.  The  Church  of 
Christ  is  no  exception.  Wherever  the  Church  has 
proved  inadequate  it  has  been  due  to  inadequate 
leadership.  If  the  Church  is  to  grow,  so  as  to 
meet  the  growing  needs  of  the  age,  it  must  have 
able  men  in  its  ministry.  Without  such  leader- 
ship there  is  danger  that  it  will  ultimately  be 
reduced  to  a  negligible  force.  The  failure  to 
raise  up  a  competent  ministry  would  be  a  far 
greater  failure  than  not  to  win  converts  to  the 
Christian  faith,  because  the  enlarging  of  the 
Kingdom  ever  waits  for  leaders  of  power.  What 
problem  of  the  Church  is  there  to-day  which 
cannot  best  be  solved  by  enlisting  for  this  call- 
ing more  men  of  the  highest  qualifications? 
What  calamity,  next  to  the  withdrawal  of 
Christ's  presence,  should  be  more  dreaded  than 
to  have  young  men  of  genius  and  of  large  equip- 
ment withhold  themselves  from  responding  to  the 
call  of  the  Christian  ministry?  And  yet  this  is 
the  calamity  which  is  impending. 

>  J.  B.  Lightfoot,  "The  Christian  Ministry,"  p.  2. 


THE  PROBLEM  5 

The  statistics  of  ministerial  candidates  afford 
ground  for  grave  concern.  In  the  student  year 
1894-5  there  were  in  attendance  at  fifty-eight 
leading  graduate  theological  schools  in  the  United 
States  4,004  students,  whereas  twelve  years  later 
there  were  but  3,304  students,  or  a  falling  off  of 
eighteen  per  cent.^  During  this  period  the  com- 
municant membership  of  the  twenty-six  largest 
Protestant  denominations  increased  from  13,351,- 
856  to  16,791,948,  being  an  increase  of  twenty- 
five  per  cent.  During  the  same  period  the  white 
population  of  the  country  increased  approxi- 
mately twenty  per  cent.  Between  twenty  and 
thirty  other  statistical  studies,  made  in  individual 
denominations  or  groups  of  denominations,  re- 
veal in  every  case  either  actual  decline  in  the 
number  of  candidates  or  an  increase  not  com- 
mensurate with  the  growth  in  population.  In  all 
my  conversations  and  correspondence  with  lead- 
ers of  the  various  American  churches  I  have 
learned  of  no  denomination  in  which  there  is  not 
a  demand  for  more  men  of  ability  for  the  min- 
istry in  all  sections  of  the  country. 

*  Statistics  gathered  by  the  Commission  on  the  Divinity 
School  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  Professor  E.  D.  Burton, 
Secretary. 


6         FUTURE  LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

This  problem  is  one  confronting  the  Church  in 
all  parts  of  the  world.  In  Canada  the  situation  is 
not  as  serious  as  in  the  United  States.  Never- 
theless, correspondence  with  more  than  two  hun- 
dred ministers  in  all  parts  of  the  Dominion,  and 
conferences  with  theological  professors,  editors, 
and  clergymen  has  made  plain  that  this  is  already 
a  very  real  problem  in  every  communion,  and 
one  that  is  likely  to  become  more  and  more 
acute  and  threatening  with  the  rapid  increase  in 
population  and  the  growing  absorption  of  the 
Canadian  people  in  the  material  development  of 
the  country. 

While  in  Great  Britain  in  1905,  I  had  a  series 
of  conferences  on  this  subject  with  companies  of 
Christian  leaders.  The  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury called  together  a  group  of  men  in  the 
Church  of  England  deeply  interested  in  the  mat- 
ter, and  afforded  an  opportunity  to  discuss  it 
with  them.  The  President  of  the  Council  of  Free 
Churches  brought  together  for  the  same  purpose 
a  number  of  leaders  in  the  Free  Churches  in 
London.  Both  at  Oxford  and  at  Cambridge 
conferences  were  held  with  Anglican  professors 
and  tutors,  and  with  Free  Church  professors  and 
ministers.     Likewise,   in   Edinburgh  and   Glas- 


THE  PROBLEM  7 

gow  there  were  gatherings  of  theological  pro- 
fessors and  ministers  of  the  different  churches. 
A  similar  group  came  together  at  Cardiff  in 
Wales.  The  evidence  brought  out  in  this  series 
of  discussions  revealed  the  fact  that,  though  the 
dearth  of  well-qualified  candidates  is  greater  in 
England  than  in  Scotland  and  Wales,  there  was 
practical  agreement  among  the  Christian  leaders 
of  all  three  nationalities  that  more  of  the  keen- 
est and  most  gifted  young  men  are  needed  for 
the  work  of  the  ministry. 

In  1907  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  examine  into  the  supply 
and  training  of  candidates  for  Holy  Orders  in 
the  Church  of  England.  According  to  the  report 
of  this  committee  there  has  been  during  the 
twenty- two  years  since  1886  a  steady  decline  in 
the  number  of  candidates  ordained  in  the  Prov- 
inces of  Canterbury  and  York,  from  814  in  1886 
to  587  in  1907,  aggregating  a  total  falling  off  in 
twenty-two  years  of  3,124.  The  committee  fur- 
ther call  attention  to  the  fact  that,  if  the  growth 
in  population  be  taken  into  consideration,  the 
total  shortage  for  this  period  stands  at  5,324. 
They  also  point  out  that  the  number  of  deacons 
ordained  to  every  100,000  of  the  population  of 


8         FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

England  and  Wales  was,  in   1881,  ^.^j',  but  in 
1901,  only  1.7.^ 

On  the  Continent,  with  the  exception  of  Hol- 
land and  parts  of  Scandinavia  where  I  was  told 
by  the  leaders  with  whom  I  consulted  that  no 
difficulty  was  experienced  in  securing  an  ade- 
quate number  of  well-qualified  men,  the  supply 
of  satisfactory  candidates  for  the  ministry  by  no 
means  equals  the  demand.  In  Germany  there  has 
been  for  some  time  a  steady  falling  off  in  the 
number  of  theological  students.  In  1881  there 
were  attending  the  Protestant  theological  faculty 
of  the  German  universities  nine  young  men  to 
every  one  hundred  thousand  of  the  population  of 
the  country.  Twenty-five  years  later,  that  is  in 
1906,  there  were  but  five  to  every  one  hun- 
dred thousand.  The  following  table  ^  shows  the 
marked    decline    in   the    number    of   Protestant 

theological  students  in  the  German  universities: 

1890-1         1906-7 

Protestant  theological  students 4,190  2,208 

Catholic  theological  students 1,232  1,708 

Law  students 6,670  12,146 

Medical  students 8,381  7,098 

Philosophical  students 7,886  17,2191 

Total  number  of  students 28,359         4o,379 

1  "  The   Supply   and  Training  of   Candidates    for   Holy 

Orders,"  (June,  1908),  p.  9. 

2"Kirchliches    Jahrbuch    auf   der    Jahr    1907,"    von    J. 

Schneider,  p.  337. 


THE   PROBLEM  9 

During  my  visits  to  Australia,  New  Zealand, 
and  South  Africa  within  the  past  six  years,  I 
made  it  a  point  to  investigate  this  question,  and 
discovered  that  in  each  one  of  these  countries 
one  of  the  greatest  needs  was  that  of  having 
more  of  the  ablest  young  men  devote  their  lives 
to  the  service  of  the  Church.  Everywhere 
the  fact  was  deplored  that  the  colonial  churches 
had  been  unable  to  recruit  a  ministry  of  their 
own,  and  that  they  were  so  largely  dependent 
on  the  unsatisfactory  plan  of  looking  to  the 
churches  in  the  mother  country  for  ministers. 
The  only  exception  is  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church  in  South  Africa,  which  for  many  years 
has  had  a  remarkable  record.  In  no  part  of  the 
world,  in  fact,  not  even  in  Scotland,  have  I  found 
a  church  which  in  recent  years  has  succeeded  in 
attracting  to  the  ministry  so  many  of  the  finest 
type  of  its  young  men. 

In  conferences  of  missionaries  and  native 
Christian  leaders  conducted  during  the  past  six 
years  in  foreign  mission  fields  of  Asia,  Africa, 
and  Latin  America  there  was  universal  testimony 
that  the  most  difficult  and  important  problem  in 
the  evangelization  of  the  world  is  that  of  secur- 
ing an  able  native  Christian  ministry. 


lo       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

Therefore,  let  it  be  reiterated  that  the  question 
of  securing  a  sufficient  number  of  well-qualified 
recruits  for  the  ranks  of  the  Christian  ministry- 
is  of  world-wide  interest  and  concern. 

While  in  almost  every  land  and  church  there 
is  a  demand  for  larger  numbers  of  ministerial 
candidates,  even  more  imperative  is  the  appeal 
for  men  of  strength  to  consecrate  themselves  to 
this  calling.  Even  in  the  comparatively  few  de- 
nominations where  there  are  apparently  enough 
ministers,  it  is  conceded  that  there  is  need  of 
more  ministers  of  large  caliber  and  possessing 
gifts  of  leadership.  As  the  progress  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  is  of  the  most  fundamental  and  vital 
interest,  it  must  not  be  committed  to  the  charge 
of  incompetent  hands.  The  work  of  the  min- 
istry is  so  comprehensive  that  it  requires  strong 
men  to  carry  it  on.  As  the  Rev.  Ozora  S.  Davis, 
of  New  Britain,  Connecticut,  expressed  the  point : 
"  I  do  not  conceive  my  work  as  that  of  a  pro- 
fessional teacher,  preacher,  visitor,  organizer, 
comforter,  priest,  reformer,  or  even  prophet.  It 
is  something  of  all  of  these;  but  is  something 
more  than  the  sum  of  all  these."  Such  a  work 
calls  for  all-round,  symmetrical,  thoroughly 
furnished  men. 


THE   PROBLEM  II 

The  distinctive  emphasis  is  placed,  therefore, 
on  the  need  of  men  of  ability  rather  than  upon 
the  need  for  greater  numbers.  What  is  meant 
by  men  of  ability?  Men  of  personal  force  or 
strength  of  personality.  Men  of  sound  physical 
constitution  who  have  the  requisite  common  sense 
and  self-control  to  care  for  the  body,  thus  insur- 
ing its  best  working  efficiency.  Men  of  mental 
power  and  proper  habits  of  study,  determined 
not  to  stagnate  intellectually.  They  should  have 
the  ability  to  appreciate  and  the  will  to  employ 
the  best  methods  of  study ;  this  is  more  important 
than  the  most  coveted  university  degrees.  They 
should  be  men  possessing  the  ability  to  express 
sympathy  and  friendship.  They  should  have  a 
genuine  reHgious  experience.  Ministers  who  do 
not  know  Christ  at  first  hand,  who  do  not  have 
a  clear  and  vital  faith,  cannot  speak  with  that 
tone  of  authority  which  should  characterize  the 
pulpit.  They  must  have  a  message  and  the  con- 
sciousness of  a  mission.  They  should  be  able 
to  give  effective  expression  to  their  passion  for 
Christ  and  for  men.  They  should  be  men  of 
intense  moral  enthusiasm.  Men  with  hearts 
aflame  with  the  passion  of  the  Cross  and  ready 
to  stake  everything  on  their  cause  will  succeed. 


12       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

The  modern  ministry  requires  men  of  heroic 
spirit  like  Knox,  by  whose  grave  it  could  be 
said,  "  Here  lies  one  who  never  feared  the  face 
of  man."  ^  They  should  also  be  able  to  organize, 
lead,  and  inspire  others  to  work.  The  growing 
lay  forces  of  the  churches  need  to  be  marshaled 
and  guided.  Above  all,  ministers  should  be  great 
in  character — men  whose  lives  are  modeled  upon 
the  life  of  Christ  and  are  yielded  unreservedly  to 
His  sway.  "  The  only  profession  which  consists 
in  being  something,"  said  President  Woodrow 
Wilson  with  fine  insight,  "  is  the  ministry  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour — and  it  does  not  consist  of 
anything  else.  It  is  manifested  in  other  things, 
but  it  does  not  consist  of  anything  else."  ^  This 
point  is  more  important  now  than  ever  be- 
fore, because  the  world  is  losing  respect  for 
the  ministerial  office,  though  not  for  the  man 
who  ministers.  The  age  has  produced  a  new 
viewpoint.  The  minister  is  respected  not  be- 
cause he  is  a  minister,  but  because  he  is  a  man 
who  answers  to  the  test  required  of  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Christ.     "If  our  religion  is  to 

>  James  Stalker,  "John  Knox:  His  Ideas  and  Ideals,"  p.  94. 

'  From  an  address  at  a  Conference  of  students  of  Eastern 

colleges,  held  at  Hartford  Theological  Seminary  in  April,  1906. 


THE   PROBLEM  13 

be  great  and  to  do  great  things,  it  must  be  in 
the  care  of  great  souls, — souls  great  in  illumina- 
tion and  in  intense  and  pure  desire."  ^ 

*  George  A.  Gordon,  "The  Claims  of  the  Ministry  upon 
Strong  Men,"  in  "The  Ministry  as  a  Profession"  (addresses 
delivered  before  the  Divinity  Club  of  the  Harvard  Divinity 
School),  p.  6. 


THE  URGENCY 


II 

THE   URGENCY 

"  I  WANT  to  live,"  said  Phillips  Brooks,  shortly 
before  his  death,  and  gave  as  his  reason  that 
the  next  twenty  years  would  offer  greater  op- 
portunities for  the  Christian  minister  than  any 
other  like  period  in  history.^  As  one  contem- 
plates even  the  regular  functions  of  this  calling, 
one  must  be  convinced  that  in  vital  importance 
there  is  no  work  comparable  to  the  Christian 
ministry:  to  preach  Christ;  to  lead  men  to  be- 
come disciples  of  Christ  as  their  Divine  Saviour 
and  Lord;  to  build  them  up  in  Christian  faith 
and  Christian  character;  to  minister  to  them  in 
the  deepest  experiences  as  well  as  in  the  ordi- 
nary needs  of  life;  to  enlist,  train,  and  energize 
Christian  workers;  to  organize  and  administer 
the  varied  activities  of  the  Church.  But  to  ap- 
preciate fully  the  scope  and  possibilities  of  the 

1  "  The  Congregationalist;*  Vol.  LXXVIII,  p.  246. 
17 


l8   FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

ministry,  one  must  keep  in  mind  some  special 
considerations  emphasizing  the  reasons  why 
more  young  men  of  abiHty  should  enter  this 
calling.  The  stronger  the  man  the  greater  the 
obligation  to  heed  the  claims  of  this  high  call- 
ing in  the  Church,  because  weak  men  or  even 
men  of  average  ability  cannot  meet  the  require- 
ments of  able  leadership.  For  men  who  are 
really  capable  there  are  more  great  openings  in 
this  service  of  the  Christian  Church  than  in  any 
other  department  of  our  modern  world.  If  the 
Church  is  to  meet  successfully  the  momentous 
problems  which  press  upon  it  now  with  great  in- 
sistence, there  must  be  an  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  competent  men  forthcoming  for  the 
Christian  ministry. 

Men  of  talent  and  consecration  are  needed  to 
guide  the  religious  thinking  of  the  people  and 
to  help  meet  their  intellectual  difficulties  con- 
cerning religious  subjects.  It  is  a  time  of  the- 
ological readjustment  and  restatement.  It  is  a 
period  of  uncertainty  and  unrest  with  reference 
to  religious  truth.  The  critical  spirit  is  assert- 
ing itself  with  great  vigor  and  is  calling  in 
question  fundamental  doctrines  and  even  ac- 
cepted rules  of  conduct.     Many  Christians  who 


THE   URGENCY  19 

do  little  or  no  real  thinking  for  themselves  on 
such  matters  need  to  be  enhghtened  and  con- 
firmed in  regard  to  vital  points  of  faith.  This 
must  be  done  with  wisdom,  or  more  questions 
may  be  raised  than  answered.  Others  within 
the  churches,  including  some  of  the  most  intel- 
ligent and  thoughtful,  are  perplexed  and  trou- 
bled by  serious  doubts  and  questionings.  They 
need  competent  and  sympathetic  guidance  in 
thinking,  reading,  and  investigating,  and  above 
all  in  the  spheres  of  personal  experience  and 
service — the  great  solvents  of  so  many  doubts. 
He  that  doeth  shall  know. 

Neither  ignorant  and  blatant  infidelity  nor 
more  or  less  ably  reasoned  skepticism  and  ag- 
nosticism can  be  ignored  by  the  ministry,  but 
must  be  understood  and  met  with  scholarly 
thoroughness  and  fairness  and  always  in  the 
Christian  spirit.^  Such  an  alliance  as  one  finds 
on  the  continent  of  Europe  between  the  social- 
ist propaganda  and  current  unbelief  must  be 
averted  in  North  America,  or  the  consequences 
will  be  most  serious  to  the  nation  as  well  as  to 
the  Church.    The  widespread  religious  indifiPer- 

»D.  S.  Caims,  in  "Preparation  for  the  Christian  Ministry 
in  View  of  Present-day  Conditions,"  pp.  9,  10. 


20   FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

ence  which  is  more  largely  due  to  uncertainty 
about  Christian  truth  among  Christians  them- 
selves than  is  generally  realized,  must  be  dealt 
with  at  the  sources.  Large  service  can  be  ren- 
dered by  all  who  help  to  restate  the  old  facts 
and  unchanged  truths  in  terms  that  will  make 
them  vivid  and  vital  to  others ;  and  who  assist 
in  the  work  of  theological  restatement  which  is 
a  requirement  of  every  age.  It  should  be  added 
that  such  restatement  is  needed  and  demanded 
at  no  other  time  so  much  as  in  an  age  dom- 
inated by  the  scientific  spirit. 

It  requires  men  of  constructive  ability  to 
grapple  successfully  with  such  conditions,  to 
think  clearly  through  the  problems  and  to  guide 
the  Church  safely  past  the  rocks  and  rapids. 
"  A  time  when  people  in  an  unprecedented  de- 
gree are  thinking,  can  be  guided  by  those  only 
who  can  think  straight  and  can  report  their 
thought  with  power."  ^  Men  who  ignore  or 
minimize  the  existence  and  gravity  of  the  intel- 
lectual unrest  in  the  realm  of  religious  thought, 
and  who  are  not  ready  to  do  the  hard,  con- 
structive,  and   courageous    work   necessary  to 

»  Francis  G.  Peabody,  "The  Call  to  Theology,"  The  Har- 
vard Theological  Review,  Vol.  I,  p.  4. 


THE   URGENCY  21 

meet  the  need,  are  not  qualified  to  be  guides  and 
leaders.  It  is  encouraging  to  note  that  never 
before  have  men  longed  more  for  confident  spir- 
itual guidance  and  religious  leadership;  but  only 
those  can  actually  guide  and  lead  who  them- 
selves know  what  men  are  questioning  and  suf- 
fering, who  understand  the  point  of  view  of 
those  whom  they  would  help,  and  who  can  speak 
to  them  in  the  language  of  their  day.^  While 
it  is  essential  now  as  always  that  men  in  the 
ministry  should  be  men  of  integrity  of  char- 
acter, of  real  spirituality,  and  of  practical  work- 
ing efficiency,  there  is  imperative  need  that  in 
addition  to  these  qualities  they  shall  be  men  of 
intellectual  authority  and  leadership.^  In  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  where  we  are  so  bent 
on  being  practical  and  are  so  prone  to  magnify 
external  agencies  and  great  activity,  there  is  spe- 
cial need  of  men  of  very  thorough  intellectual 
equipment.  We  need  more  men  in  positions  of 
leadership  in  the  Church  who  can  show  that  a 
full   intellectual   equipment   is   not   inconsistent 

»  P.  T.  Forsyth,  "Positive  Preaching  and  the  Modem  Mind," 
p.  179. 

»  J.  R.  Illingworth,  "The  Church  and  Human  Thought  in 
the  Present  Day,"  in  "Pan-Anglican  Papers"  (being  problems 
for  consideration  at  the  Pan-Anglican  Congress  in  1908). 


22       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF   THE   CHURCH 

with  deep  Christian  experience  and  with  fervor 
in  promulgating  positive   Christian  truth. 

Thoroughly  furnished  men  are  required  in  the 
ministry  to  develop  the  teaching  and  training 
side  of  the  work  of  the  Church.^  The  teaching 
function  of  the  ministry  must  be  emphasized,  for 
it  constitutes  in  some  respects  the  most  endur- 
ing and  satisfying  work  that  the  minister  does. 
But  even  more  should  the  fact  be  emphasized 
that  each  church  is  an  institution  of  learning 
and  a  training  school.  If  large  and  lasting  re- 
sults are  to  be  secured,  attention  must  be  con- 
centrated more  than  ever  upon  the  religious 
instruction  of  the  youth.  Modern  psychology  is 
emphasizing  the  first  importance  of  bringing  the 
influence  of  the  Church  to  bear  during  the  age 
of  adolescence.  The  discussions  of  the  Religious 
Education  Association  have  made  plain  that  the 
Church  should  devote  more  attention  to  her 
duty  as  teacher,  both  of  the  youth  and  of  those 
of  mature  years. 

The  minister  has  the  responsibility  of  super- 
vising the  reHgious  education  of  the  entire  par- 
ish. He  may  guide  the  home  in  its  plans  of 
moral   and   religious   culture.     He   may  inspire 

»  J.  B.  Lightfoot,  "The  Christian  Ministry,"  p.  22. 


THE   URGENCY  23 

parents  with  higher  ideals  in  child-training.  He 
may  make  the  Sunday  school  a  real  school,  con- 
ducted with  such  modern  methods  and  such 
thorough  spirit  as  not  to  suffer  in  comparison 
with  the  best  secular  institutions  of  learning. 
This  is  all  the  more  necessary  because  of  the 
absence  of  religious  instruction  in  our  common 
secular  schools.  He  may  organize  and  stimulate 
home  and  foreign  mission  study  classes,  and 
clubs  for  the  consideration  of  various  other 
problems  and  opportunities  of  his  church.  He 
may  conduct  normal  classes  for  the  training  of 
teachers  and  leaders  of  different  classes,  clubs, 
and  activities.  He  may  increase  greatly  the  faith- 
building  and  character-building  effectiveness  of 
his  preaching  by  making  it  conform  more  fully 
to  the  principles  of  modern  psychology  and  ap- 
proved pedagogy.  The  pulpit  that  teaches  has 
always  commanded  respect,  and  in  this  age,  when 
education  and  the  work  of  the  teacher  are  more 
exalted  than  ever,  it  cannot  fail  to  hold  its  place 
secure.  This  applies  particularly  to  expository 
preaching  which  should  be  given  greater  prom- 
inence in  the  modern  pulpit.  This  intensive 
work,  this  building  work,  this  highly  multiply- 
ing work  of  teaching  and  training,  if  it  is  to 


24       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

be  sound,  that  is,  if  it  is  to  be  in  accordance 
with  the  settled  principles  of  psychology  and 
pedagogy,  both  as  carried  on  by  the  minister 
himself  and  as  promoted  by  others  through  him, 
requires  that  he  be  a  man  of  capacity  and  that 
he  himself  be  thoroughly  equipped  for  the  task. 
Strong  men  are  needed  in  the  ministry  to- 
day to  lay  secure  Christian  foundations  for  the 
new  states  and  provinces  in  the  great  West. 
This  undertaking  calls  loudly  and  imperatively 
for  Christian  leadership.  It  is  one  of  our  most 
pressing  tasks.  New  American  states  and  Can- 
adian provinces  have  been  formed  within  half 
a  generation  and  are  still  plastic.  Others 
are  actually  being  created.  The  opening  in  the 
United  States  of  nearly,  if  not  quite,  a  score  of 
reservations,  beginning  in  1906  and  still  in  proc- 
ess, offers  millions  of  acres  of  good  land  for 
settlement.  Improved  means  of  agriculture  are 
making  available  for  profitable  cultivation  im- 
mense tracts  between  the  Missouri  and  the 
Rockies,  as  well  as  in  the  older  sections  of  the 
country.^     The  redemption  of  waste  places  by 

^  The  reports  by  S,  A.  Knapp  on  "Farmer's  Cooperative 
Demonstration  Work,"  as  carried  on  by  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture  and  by  the  General  Education 


THE   URGENCY  25 

new  and  extensive  schemes  of  irrigation  is 
creating  out  of  the  very  wilderness  the  equiva- 
lent of  entire  states. 

President  Frank  K.  Sanders  has  shown  in  his 
document,  "  The  Newest  West,"  that  the  situa- 
tion caused  by  these  new  conditions  is  extremely 
urgent.  He  insists  that  in  less  than  half  a  gen- 
eration the  stamp  will  have  been  given  to  the 
character  of  the  civilization  of  this  important 
part  of  the  country.  The  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity should  be  brought  to  bear  upon  these 
new,  and  especially  upon  these  newest,  terri- 
tories before  they  become  set  or  crystallized. 
What  ideals  shall  dominate  them — those  of  ma- 
teriaHsm,  greed,  pleasure-seeking  worldliness, 
and  irreverence,  or  those  of  righteousness,  un- 
selfishness, and  godly  fear?  The  answer  con- 
cerns not  only  these  states  and  provinces,  some 
of  which  at  no  distant  date  will  exceed  in  popu- 
lation and  productive  power  entire  European 
nations,  but  the  whole  United  States  and  Can- 
ada, of  which  they  form  organic  parts.  On 
grounds  of  patriotism  it  is  a  matter  of  pro- 
found concern  to  the  citizens  of  these  nations 

Board,  suggest  the  vast  undeveloped  agricultural  possibilities 
of  the  country. 


26   FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

whether  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  shall  actu- 
ally determine  the  character  of  their  civilization, 
practices,  and  life.  Christians  should  be  stimu- 
lated by  the  zeal  and  activity  of  the  Mormons 
in  their  efforts  to  extend  their  influence  in  the 
new  territories  and  states. 

The  minister  as  a  Christian  preacher  and 
teacher  can  do  more  than  anyone  else  to  in- 
fluence their  civilization  and  life.  The  work  of 
Christian  foundation  laying  is  difficult  and  de- 
mands the  wisest  men.  None  are  too  good  for 
this  work  of  constructive  statesmanship.  May 
a  sufficient  number  of  young  men  be  forthcom- 
ing to  accomplish  the  task!  The  efforts  put 
forth  during  the  next  two  decades  will  be  vastly 
more  productive  than  those  during  the  subse- 
quent two  generations  if  we  neglect  to  improve 
the  immediate  opportunity.  One  realizes  the 
great  importance  of  this  work  as  he  recalls  the 
influence  exerted  by  the  Puritan  ministers,  in- 
cluding scores  of  graduates  of  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge, at  the  formative  stage  of  New  England.^ 
The  itinerant  preachers  of  early  Methodism  pro- 
foundly influenced  the  civilization  of  the  fron- 
tier   settlements.      Bishop    Asbury    and    other 

>  John  Fiske,  "The  Beginnings  of  New  England,"  p.  no. 


THE   URGENCY  27 

traveling  ministers  of  his  day  inculcated  respect 
for  law  and  held  up  high  ideals  of  Christian 
citizenship  in  the  new  states  which  they  visited. 
What  does  not  Ohio  owe  to  the  fact  that  in  its 
plastic  period  men  like  Lyman  Beecher,  Charles 
G.  Finney,  and  James  Hoge  identified  them- 
selves with  its  life.  Think  of  the  influence 
wielded  by  the  band  of  eleven  Yale  men  who 
in  1829  went  out  to  plant  Christian  civilization 
in  northern  and  central  Illinois;  and  of  the 
impress  of  the  Andover  Band  of  nine  men  on 
the  commonwealth  of  Iowa  in  its  early  history. 
Recall,  also,  the  wonderful  work  accomplished 
by  Marcus-  Whitman  in  the  Pacific  Northwest, 
by  Bishop  Whipple  in  Minnesota,  and  by  James 
Robertson,  Alexander  Grant,  and  George  Mc- 
Dougall  in  the  Canadian  West.  Nor  should  we 
overlook  the  service  rendered  the  nation  by 
those  devoted  men,  chiefly  ministers,  who  built 
up  the  Christian  colleges  of  the  Eastern,  West- 
ern, and  Southern  states  without  which  no  suf- 
ficient ministry  could  have  been  provided  for 
these  sections. 

It  will  require  in  the  ministry  more  young  men 
possessing  the  qualities  of  true  leadership,  if  the 
Church  is  to  do  her  part  in  assimilating  the  in- 


28       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

creasing  immigration.  There  are  in  the  United 
States  to-day  nearly  thirty  millions  of  people 
who  are  either  foreigners  or  of  foreign  parent- 
age. The  immigration  to  both  the  United  States 
and  Canada  is  increasing,  and  with  more  ra- 
pidity during  the  past  decade  than  at  any  time 
in  the  history  of  these  two  countries.  More  have 
come  to  the  United  States  in  the  past  seven 
years  than  in  the  first  seventy  years  of  the  life 
of  the  Republic.  Many  more  people  were  added 
to  Canada  during  the  past  two  years  than 
were  to  be  found  in  all  Upper  and  Lower  Can- 
ada at  the  end  of  the  fifty  years  following  the 
French  and  Indian  War.  Canada  added  last 
year  nearly  enough  immigrants  to  make  a  new 
Toronto ;  and  the  United  States  has  been  adding 
enough  every  two  years  to  make  a  new  Chicago. 
Although  during  the  past  year  there  has  been 
a  marked  check  in  immigration  into  the  United 
States,  the  causes  of  the  arrest  are  transient, 
while  those  of  the  previous  influx  are  constant. 
In  Canada  while  the  Anglo-Saxon  element 
still  largely  predominates  in  the  immigration,  the 
streams  from  other  parts  of  Europe  have  begun 
to  set  in,  and  it  may  be  safely  predicted  that 
they  will  constantly  increase.    Already  over  fifty 


THE   URGENCY  29 

nationalities  and  countries  are  represented  in  this 
immigration.  That  of  the  United  States  is  vastly 
more  varied  and  representative,  being  drawn  as 
it  is  from  all  of  the  primary  racial  groups  of 
the  world.  In  1882,  Western  Europe  furnished 
eighty-seven  per  cent  of  America's  immigration ; 
in  1902,  only  twenty-two  per  cent.  In  contrast, 
notice  that  in  1882,  Southeastern  Europe  and 
Asiatic  Turkey  furnished  only  thirteen  per  cent 
of  the  immigration,  but  in  1902,  seventy-eight 
per  cent.  In  other  words,  the  sources  of  our 
immigration,  which  were  once  chiefly  Protestant, 
have  become  predominantly  Roman  Catholic, 
Greek  Catholic,  and  Jewish.^  This  new  immigra- 
tion is  obviously  composed  of  classes  not  easily  as- 
similated. In  far  too  many  cases  these  people  come 
to  us  unprepared  to  absorb  readily  our  national 
and  religious  ideas  or  to  sympathize  with  our 
characteristic  traditions  and  ideals.  Different 
sections  of  this  immigration  are  massing  together 
in  our  large  cities,  and  in  some  cases  in  rural 
districts,  thus  constituting,  as  it  were,  states 
within  the  state,  having  languages,  customs,  and 
ideals  differing  from  those  of  the   surrounding 

>  John  R.  Commons,  "  Races  and  Immigrants  in  America," 
p.  217. 


30      FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

population  and  preparing  the  way  for  future  race 
misunderstandings  and  antagonisms. 

This  great  and  ever-growing  foreign  popula- 
tion constitutes  not  only  a  problem  and  a  peril, 
but  also  an  inspiring  opportunity  and  challenge. 
Scores  of  years  of  experience  have  demonstrated 
again  and  again  on  this  continent  the  practicabil- 
ity of  assimilating  and  transforming  great  masses 
of  alien  peoples  into  good  citizens.  But  we  have 
not  realized  as  we  should,  that  pure  Christianity 
can  do  vastly  more  to  accomplish  this  desired  end 
than  legislation  or  education  apart  from  Chris- 
tianity. There  is  no  power  like  that  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  to  break  down  race  prejudice  and 
to  bind  peoples  into  real  unity.^  Moreover, 
Christianity  alone  can  teach  and  preserve  real 
freedom  and  democracy.  It  is  imperative  that 
the  Church  should  plan  for  reaching  these  peo- 
ples on  a  far  larger  scale.  The  Christian  forces 
must  be  united  and  must  bring  their  combined 
influence  to  bear  upon  this  problem  as  never  be- 
fore. It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  these  alien 
peoples  are  most  susceptible  to  the  influences  of 

*  The  unifpng  power  of  the  Christian  religion  is  empha- 
sized by  W.  M.  Ramsay  in  the  striking  chapter,  "The  States- 
manship of  Paul,"  in  "Pauline  and  Other  Studies." 


THE   URGENCY  31 

Christianity  when  they  first  arrive  in  the  country, 
while  their  hearts  are  still  tender  with  the  mem- 
ories of  home,  and  before  they  have  formed  new 
associations.^ 

Those  who  have  looked  deeply  into  the  matter 
know  that  the  work  of  assimilating  these  peo- 
ples, not  only  politically,  but  also  morally  and 
religiously,  requires  the  leadership  of  men  of  the 
highest  order  of  talent  and  of  the  widest  range 
of  sympathy.  To  understand  the  antecedents  of 
these  people  and  their  present  point  of  view,  to 
be  able  to  appreciate  and  overcome  their  preju- 
dices, to  adapt  the  work  and  message  of  the 
Church  so  as  actually  to  win  them,  is  difficult 
indeed.  It  demands  large  men  to  discover  and 
utilize  the  strong  points  of  these  foreigners  as 
well  as  to  bring  our  best  to  bear  helpfully  upon 
them.  In  seeking  to  bring  them  into  sympathy 
with  our  Washington  and  Lincoln  we  must  also 
endeavor  to  know  their  Kosciuszko,  Garibaldi, 
and  Mazzini.2 

*  This  is  well  illustrated  by  Edward  A.  Steiner,  "  On  the 
Trail  of  the  Immigrant." 

2  Ozora  S,  Davis,  "The  New  New  England,"  in  TJie  Con- 
gregationalist.  Vol.  XCIII,  p.  350  £f.  See  also  John  L.  Sewall, 
<'  The  Advance  of  the  New  Neighborliness,"  Vol.  XCIII,  pp. 
580,  581. 


32       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

One  of  the  most  difficult  and  essential  tasks 
before  the  Church  is  that  of  enlisting  and  train- 
ing for  our  foreign-speaking  peoples  workers 
from  among  their  own  numbers,  and  experi- 
ence on  the  foreign  mission  fields  shows  that 
to  accomplish  this  requires  men  of  leadership. 
The  winning  of  the  newcomers  will  not  be  ac- 
complished until  the  local  churches  recognize 
their  responsibility,  and  put  forth  efforts  to  meet 
the  new  conditions  of  their  immediate  environ- 
ment; and  the  local  churches  will  not  recognize 
and  discharge  their  responsibility  unless  they 
have  as  their  pastors  men  of  vision,  consecration, 
and  efficiency.  We  must  frankly  admit  that  the 
supply  of  young  men  of  power  now  being  added 
to  the  ministry  is  not  sufficient  to  make  pos- 
sible the  transformation  of  these  heterogeneous 
masses  and  their  fusion  into  a  real  Christian 
unity  with  ourselves.  In  some  way  we  must 
multiply  the  number  of  men  with  the  caliber, 
spirit,  and  achieving  ability  of  Dr.  Henry  A. 
Schauffler  who  accomplished  such  a  valuable 
pioneer  work  among  the  great  Bohemian  popu- 
lation of  Cleveland. 

If  Christianity  is  to  guide  and  inspire  the  cit- 
ies of  North  America,  more  of  the  ablest  young 


THE   URGENCY  33 

men  must  devote  themselves  to  the  leadership  of 
the  Church.  In  the  year  1800  less  than  four  per 
cent  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  lived  in 
cities;  by  the  year  1900  the  proportion  had  in- 
creased to  thirty-three  per  cent.  One  hundred 
and  sixty  cities  now  contain  over  one  fourth  of 
the  entire  population  of  the  country.  In  Canada 
the  population  of  the  one  city  of  Toronto  has, 
during  the  past  sixty  years,  increased  over  one 
thousand  per  cent. 

The  disproportionate  growth  of  the  cities  con- 
tinues at  a  startling  pace.  The  wider  application 
of  the  power  of  steam  and  electricity,  and  the 
higher  evolution  of  machinery  for  farm,  road, 
and  factory,  will,  contrary  to  the  impression  of 
some,  result  in  the  further  building  up  of  the 
cities  at  the  expense  of  the  country  districts. 
While  in  the  rural  districts  the  changed  condi- 
tions, due  to  better  roads,  rapid  transit,  tele- 
phones, free  mail  delivery,  improved  agricultural 
methods,  and  other  causes  may  result  in  detain- 
ing larger  numbers  in  the  country,  yet  the  causes 
of  the  increase  of  urban  population  are  perma- 
nent, so  that  probably  within  less  than  a  genera- 
tion, so  far  as  the  United  States  is  concerned, 
the  cities  will  gain  the  power  of  the  majority. 


34       FUTURE  LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

America's  largest  city  already  has  49.9  per  cent 
of  the  population  of  the  Empire  State.  If  the 
rate  of  increase,  which  characterized  the  decade 
from  1890  to  1900  continues,  by  1940  we  shall 
have  over  20,000,000  more  people  in  the  cities 
than  outside  of  the  cities.  This  is  startling  and 
may  well  arrest  the  attention  of  thoughtful  lead- 
ers of  the  Christian  Church.  It  acquires  special 
significance  when  we  remember  that  jthe  cities 
are  not  only  centers  of  population,  wealth,  in- 
telligence, and  influence,  but  also  of  discontent, 
struggle,  lawlessness,  sin,  and  moral  havoc. 
Think  of  the  prominence  of  the  saloon,  brothel, 
and  gambling  den,  of  the  dirt  and  overcrowding, 
of  the  masses  sunken  under  the  weight  of  desti- 
tution and  misery,  of  the  prevalence  of  injustice, 
rapacity,  and  civic  corruption. 

To  add  to  the  seriousness  of  the  situation,  it 
should  be  pointed  out  that  in  the  United  States 
the  great  cities  are  only  from  one  half  to  one 
fourth  as  well  supplied  with  churches  as  is  the 
country  as  a  whole.  What  is  more  alarming  still, 
when  their  entire  population  is  taken  into  consid- 
eration, as  it  should  be,  the  Church  is  growing 
relatively  weaker  in  the  ever-enlarging  cities. 
Too  many  churches  to-day  follow  their  support- 


THE   URGENCY  35 

ing  constituencies  to  the  most  favored  sections 
of  the  cities  or  to  the  suburbs  rather  than  hold 
their  ground  and  continue  to  serve  a  people  even 
more  in  need  of  their  ministrations.  As  a  result, 
the  cities  are  underchurched  in  some  areas  and 
overchurched  in  others.  With  growing  coopera- 
tion each  church  will  have  its  distinctive  field. 

The  cities  are  strategic  positions.  No  cause 
can  carry  the  nation  until  it  has  carried  these 
centers  of  population.  This  was  strikingly 
illustrated  in  the  early  days  of  Christianity.^ 
Therefore,  if  Christianity  is  actually  to  become 
the  motive  power  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  it  must  be  strong  in  the  cities.  Here, 
if  anywhere,  are  presented  heroic  tasks  for 
the  strongest  natures.  We  want  men  of  large 
mold  and  conquering  spirit  who  will  come  to 
close  grapple  with  our  North  American  cities, 
as  did  Chalmers  and  Guthrie  with  the  great 
cities  of  Scotland  in  their  time;  as  others  like 
William  Ross  of  Cowcaddens  in  Glasgow, 
and  James  Hood  Wilson  of  Fountainbridge  and 
of  the  Barclay  in  Edinburgh  have  done  in  our 

•Adolf  Hamack,  "The  Expansion  of  Christianity  in  the 
First  Three  Centuries,"  II,  p.  456.  See  also  W.  M.  Ramsay^ 
"St.  Paul  the  Traveller  and  the  Roman  Citizen." 


36       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

own  day ;  like  Hugh  Price  Hughes  and  other 
Wesleyan  leaders  in  London  and  in  the  cities 
of  the  Midlands ;  and  like  the  present  Bishop  of 
London,  when  at  Oxford  House,  and  ever  since 
in  his  intense  activity  in  his  metropolitan  diocese. 
Only  men  who  are  ready  to  consecrate  them- 
selves to  a  life  of  siege  work  should  give  them- 
selves to  the  ministry  of  Christ  in  the  troubled 
heart  of  the  twentieth-century  city. 

Of  almost  equal  importance  and  urgency  is 
the  call  for  more  of  our  most  competent  young 
men  to  carry  forward  the  work  of  the  Church 
in  the  villages,  small  towns,  and  rural  districts. 
We  must  never  forget  the  familiar  fact  that  the 
outlying  country  and  the  villages  feed  the  life 
of  the  cities.  When  we  consider  how  many 
great  statesmen  and  men  eminent  in  the  dif?*er- 
ent  professions  have  come  from  the  country 
where  they  received  their  first  and  most  lasting 
religious  impressions,  we  can  better  appreciate 
how  vitally  the  work  of  the  country  minister 
afifects  the  life  of  the  nation.  In  New  England, 
indeed,  the  life  of  the  nation  began  in  the  coun- 
try churches.  There  was  recently  published  a 
pamphlet  called  "  Maine's  Hall  of  Fame,"  con- 
taining a  list  of  nearly  450  names  of  people  of 


THE   URGENCY  37 

the  State  of  Maine  who  have  become  prominent 
in  our  national  life.  Of  these  the  great  ma- 
jority, including  the  most  distinguished,  came 
from  the  small  towns  and  rural  districts.  A  few 
years  ago  statistics  gathered  in  the  city  of  Bos- 
ton revealed  the  fact  that  about  eighty  per  cent 
of  the  pastors  and  Christian  workers  in  the 
churches  of  the  four  leading  denominations  of 
the  city  were  born  and  reared  in  the  country. 

The  cities  cannot  be  relied  upon  to  furnish 
the  Christian  leaders  of  the  future.  The  work 
of  the  Church  in  the  country  districts  must  be 
carried  on  with  efficiency  and  power  in  order 
to  insure  the  raising  up  of  sufficient  Christian 
forces  to  cultivate  the  city  fields.  Thus  far  the 
country  and  the  small  towns  have  been  the 
springs  of  all  that  is  freshest,  most  vigorous, 
and  best  in  city  life.  But  there  is  imminent 
danger  that  the  further  depletion  of  the  popula- 
tion of  the  rural  districts  and  the  weakening  in 
them  of  the  position  of  the  Church  may  cut  off 
this  source  of  energy  and  vitality.  This  is  par- 
ticularly true  in  the  older  states  and  provinces. 
President  Woolsey  of  Yale  once  said:  "We 
must  save  the  country  town  or  we  are  lost  as  a 
nation."    Moreover,  it  must  be  emphasized  that, 


38       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

while  it  is  necessary  to  reach  the  rural  sections 
because  of  their  vital  relation  to  the  cities,  it 
is  also  important  to  influence  these  rural  dis- 
tricts for  the  sake  of  vast  numbers  of  people 
who  will  continue  to  live  in  them.^ 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  many  isolated 
towns  and  rural  communities  are  in  as  bad  con- 
dition morally  as  the  average  population  of 
large  cities.  There  are  indeed  country  slums. 
Life  being  more  stagnant  settles  on  its  lees.  The 
effects  of  the  larger  and  more  varied  interests 
and  the  swifter  current  of  city  life  are  wanting. 
In  some  respects  the  conditions  of  country  life 
have  improved.  Parts  of  the  country  districts 
are  less  isolated  than  formerly  and  the  people 
live  under  more  nearly  urban  conditions,  owing 
to  better  roads,  the  development  of  the  trolley 
lines,  the  rural  delivery,  the  v/ide  circulation 
of  metropolitan  dailies  and  magazines,  the  tele- 
phone, the  mail  order  system,  the  cooperative 
stores,  and  the  union  of  school  districts.  On 
the  other  hand,  these  new  conditions  have  linked 
the  rural  districts  to  the  centers  of  contagion 
and  contamination  in  the  cities  as  never  before. 

>  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield,  "  Chapters  in  Rural  Progress,'* 
pp.  170,  171. 


THE   URGENCY  39 

There  has  come  to  be  a  great  change  in  the 
character  of  the  rural  communities,  due  to  the 
moving  away  of  the  older  population  and  to  their 
replacement  in  many  cases  by  a  decidedly  less 
desirable  class,  not  in  the  sense  that  they  are  infe- 
rior in  native  ability  and  possibilities  of  large 
development,  but  in  the  sense  that  they  are  not  at 
present  actuated  by  the  higher  ideals  and  spirit 
which  characterized  the  original  population.  It 
is  a  serious  fact  that  the  work  of  the  Church  has 
not,  as  a  rule,  been  readapted  to  meet  the  changed 
conditions.  There  is  nothing  which  the  country 
town  so  much  needs  as  the  Church  to  evangelize, 
to  hold  up  high  ethical  ideals,  to  promote  the 
social  and  civic  betterment  of  the  community, 
and  to  stand  for  the  supremacy  of  the  spiritual 
life.  There  is  need  and  opportunity  for  de- 
veloping certain  forms  of  institutional  church 
work  in  small  towns.  These  communities  need 
such  work  fully  as  much  as  do  the  cities.  To 
promote  the  union  of  churches,  so  necessary 
if  such  plans  are  to  be  realized,  demands  the 
leadership   of   the   best  young  men.^     The   fa- 

»  Wilbert  L.  Anderson,  "The  Country  Town,"  p.  264  ff.; 
George  Frederick  Wells,  "What  Our  Country  Churches 
Need"  (a  discussion  based  upon  a  study  of  the  country  church 
problem  made  by  the  author  under  the  auspices  of  the  Car- 


40      FUTURE  LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

cilities  for  organizing  a  rural  population  are 
now  so  numerous  and  valuable  that  men  of 
leadership  and  organizing  genius  are  needed  in 
every  county  of  our  states,  so  that  the  moral 
power  of  the  rural  population  may  be  exerted 
as  a  whole,  especially  in  moral  crises.  Recent 
political  movements  have  surprised  old-time 
politicians.  "  The  telephone  beat  us,"  said  one 
of  them  the  other  day.  But  it  was  not  the  tele- 
phone merely;  it  was  the  wise  use  of  it. 

Contrary  to  the  popular  idea,  many  of  the  best 
qualified  men  are  needed  and  required  for  the 
most  destitute  country  fields.  As  one  ponders 
the  matter,  the  conviction  deepens  that  the  prob- 
lems to  be  solved  by  the  minister  in  the  village 
or  town  call  for  not  one  whit  less  ability  than 
those  confronting  the  city  minister.^  This  work 
will  require  to  an  unusual  degree  the  spirit  of 
heroism,  self-effacement,  friendliness,  patience, 
and  vision.  It  needs  men  capable  of  doing 
original  work  in  rural  sociology.     It  calls  for 

negie  Institution),  Methodist  Review,  Vol.  LXXXIX,  p.  540; 
George  Frederick  Wells,  "An  Answer  to  the  New  England 
Country  Church  Question,"  The  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  Vol.  LXIV, 
p.  314;  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield,  " Chapters  in  Rural  Progress," 

PP-  36,  37,  179- 

1  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield, "  Chapters  in  Rural  Progress,"  p.  38 


THE   URGENCY  41 

men  who  are  profoundly  impressed  with  the 
strategy  of  this  method  of  approach  to  the  prob- 
lems of  our  time.  No  personality  can  deeply 
impress  more  than  a  certain  number  of  people 
and  that  number  is  not  so  great  as  is  often  sup- 
posed. The  man  who  is  willing  to  enter  and 
willing  to  stay  in  some  apparently  obscure  and 
isolated  field  and  who  preserves  his  own  habits 
of  growth  and  his  highest  ideals  will  do  an  in- 
tensive work  as  vital  and  dynamic  as  that  ac- 
complished in  the  midst  of  the  totally  different 
conditions  which  obtain  in  the  modern  city. 

One  need  only  recall  the  streams  of  influence 
which  have  gone  forth  to  the  cities  and  into 
the  life  of  the  nation  from  certain  humble  rural 
parishes  led  by  men  of  real  greatness,  to  reahze 
the  force  of  this  contention.  Some  of  the 
greatest  men  in  the  Christian  Church,  not  sec- 
ond to  those  who  have  occupied  conspicuous 
metropolitan  churches,  if  judged  by  the  true 
test  of  results,  have  been  country  ministers  little 
known  and  unheralded.  Jonathan  Edwards  ex- 
erted a  world-wide  influence  from  a  small  parish. 
Charles  Kingsley  spent  his  whole  life  at  Evers- 
ley,  a  "  little  patch  of  moorland,"  as  he  himself 
characterized  it,  in  Southern  England,  a  parish 


42       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

with  but  seven  or  eight  hundred  people,  not  one 
of  whom,  when  he  began  his  ministry,  could 
read  or  write. 

Never  before  has  the  Church  had  such  need  in 
the  ministry  of  men  able  to  deal  wisely  with  social 
questions.  While  to  awaken  the  individual  con- 
science and  to  bring  the  individual  soul  into  vital 
relationship  to  Christ  is  and  ever  will  be  the  chief 
business  of  the  Church,  nevertheless,  the  social 
aspects  of  the  programme  of  Christianity  consti- 
tute one  of  the  distinctive  calls  of  our  generation 
to  young  men  to  enter  the  ministry.  The  work  of 
Christianity  is  to  establish  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
Jesus  Christ  is  Lord  and,  therefore,  must  reign. 
He  has  authority  to  rule  social  practices.^  He 
must  dominate  His  followers  and  all  society  in 
all  relationships ;  domestic,  commercial,  indus- 
trial, educational,  civic,  national,  and  religious. 
The  Gospel  must  vitalize  and  control  every  part 
of  human  life.  Surely,  therefore,  the  social  ques- 
tions are  a  matter  of  concern  to  a  Church  that 
bears  His  name.  Is  not  the  Church  concerned 
about  intemperance  and  lust  and  dishonesty, 
about  commercial  and  industrial  oppression  and 

«  James  H.  F.  Peile,  "The  Reproach  of  the  Gospel"  (Bamp- 
ton  Lectures  for  the  year  1907),  p.  107  fif. 


THE   URGENCY  43 

injustice,  about  questions  of  overcrowding  and 
unsanitary  conditions,  about  unlawful  gains  and 
unlawful  expenditures,  about  the  ostentation 
and  luxury  of  the  rich  and  the  grinding  of  the 
poor,  about  the  spirit  of  class  prejudice  and  mob 
violence,  about  the  crushing  out  of  the  lives  of 
women  and  children,  about  the  bitter  struggle 
of  poverty  and  allied  misery  and  pauperism?  To 
say  that  the  Church  should  not  interest  itself 
in  matters  like  these  is  to  forget  both  the  ex- 
ample and  the  teachings  of  its  Founder.  As  a 
recent  writer  has  eloquently  insisted,  the  Church 
"  should  be  swiftest  to  awaken  .  .  .  ,  bravest  to 
speak  .  .  .  ,  and  strongest  to  rally  the  moral 
forces  of  the  community."  ^ 

Not  only  are  social  questions  an  imperative 
concern  of  the  Church,  but  it  is  essential  to  the 
Church  that  it  should  give  itself  whole-heartedly 
to  their  solution.  If  it  is  to  have  real  power 
with  the  people,  it  must  give  expression  to  their 
deepest  convictions  and  highest  aspirations  in 
the  realm  of  practical  and  aggressive  righteous- 
ness. If  it  holds  back  in  the  present  social 
crisis,  it  will  not  command  the  following  of  many 

*  Walter  Rauschenbusch,  "  Christianity  and  the  Social 
Crisis,"  p.  287. 


44   FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

keen  minds  and  unselfish  spirits.  To  reach  and 
hold  the  laboring  men  the  Church  must  show  a 
more  practical,  effective,  and  sympathetic  in- 
terest in  the  problems  which  press  upon  them. 
The  members  of  the  labor  and  socialistic  move- 
ments are  largely  outside  the  Church.  A  friend, 
in  speaking  with  a  prominent  labor  leader  the 
other  day,  asked  him  his  opinion  of  the  Church. 
"  The  Church,"  he  replied,  "  we  used  to  hate 
it.  We  no  longer  hate  it,  we  despise  it."  For- 
tunately this  attitude  is  not  so  typical  of  labor- 
ing men  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  as  it  has 
unfortunately  become  on  the  European  Con- 
tinent. Their  present  attitude  here  might  more 
generally  be  described  as  one  of  indifference. 
They  let  the  Church  alone  because  it  seems  to 
have  nothing  to  do  with  their  life  and  burdens. 
There  is,  however,  grave  danger  of  their  pass- 
ing from  indifference  to  hostility. 

The  Christian  minister  is  in  a  position  to  do 
more  than  anyone  else  to  break  down  class  spirit 
between  the  rich  and  poor.  He  is,  or  may  be, 
the  strongest  bond  of  union  between  them. 
Both  confide  in  him,  if  he  is  what  he  should  be. 
But  he  must  understand  and  sympathize  with 
both,  and  labor  for  both.    There  is  need  of  con- 


THE   URGENCY  43 

secrated  leaders  who  can  separate  themselves 
from  the  special  interests  of  classes,  and  who 
can  judge  and  mediate  in  a  disinterested  way. 
Surely  the  Christian  minister  is  in  a  unique 
position  to  render  this  vital  service.  Moreover, 
these  social  problems  present  to  the  Church  a 
great  opportunity.  If  she  loses  herself  in  help- 
ing to  solve  them,  she  will  find  herself  in  added 
growth  and  power  and  vitality. 

This  is  the  day  above  all  others  when  the 
Church  needs  to  be  heard  on  social  questions. 
In  no  part  of  Christendom  are  the  voice  and  ex- 
ample of  the  Church  more  needed  just  now  than 
in  North  America.  It  is  being  imperatively 
summoned  to  discharge  more  fully  its  social  re- 
sponsibility. It  is  summoned  by  the  Will  of 
God  as  revealed  in  Christ.  It  is  summoned  by 
its  experience  at  those  periods  in  its  history 
when  it  has  come  nearest  the  people  and  won 
their  hearts  and  allegiance.  It  is  summoned  by 
the  demand  of  the  modern  age  for  industrial 
freedom  and  justice,  civic  righteousness,  and 
political  purity.  It  is  summoned  by  the  deep 
undertone  of  the  masses  subjected  to  selfish- 
ness, injustice,  oppression,  and  cruelties.  It  is 
summoned  by   the   anger   of  strong   men,   the 


46   FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

despair  of  women,  and  the  sobs  of  the  children. 
If  the  Christian  Church  with  its  present  mem- 
bership and  influence  would  accept  heartily  the 
simple  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ  about  its  so- 
cial responsibility  and  put  them  into  practice, 
our  society  would  soon  be  filled  with  ideas  and 
sentiments  which  would  make  it  impossible  for 
social  wrongs  to  endure. 

If  the  Church  is  to  rise  to  its  great  responsi- 
bility it  must  have  qualified  leaders.  It  must 
have  men  of  insight  and  sagacity  capable  of 
studying  and  understanding  social  conditions. 
They  must  be  men  who  can  discover  and  deal 
with  the  causes  of  misery  and  wrong  as  well  as 
with  the  misery  and  wrong  themselves.  "  It  is 
no  use,  and  will  be  no  use,  merely  trying  to  save 
the  wounded;  we  must  stop  the  battle."  ^  They 
must  be  men  of  balance  who,  in  preaching  a 
social  Gospel,  will  continue  to  press  even  more 
earnestly  a  personal  Gospel,  knowing  that  with- 
out this  it  will  cease  to  be  a  triumphant  social 
Gospel.  Only  in  bringing  to  bear  upon  the 
hearts  of  individual  men  the  superhuman  power 
of  Christ  and  thus  transforming  and  energizing 

>R.  J.  Campbell,  "Christianity  and  the  Social  Order,''  p. 
i66. 


THE   URGENCY  47 

them  is  there  hope  of  effecting  any  thorough- 
going and  permanent  changes  in  their  social 
condition  and  relationships.  Ministers  must 
avoid  becoming  so  busy  with  the  affairs  of  the 
communities  in  which  they  live  that  they  fail  to 
be  fountains  of  real  spiritual  refreshment  to 
their  people.  Otherwise  they  defeat  the  reali- 
zation of  the  largest  and  best  results  of  social 
service.  If  the  spiritual  life  of  men  be  properly 
maintained,  that  life  will  then  be  manifested  in 
countless  practical  ways  involved  in  the  social 
mission  of  the  Church.  The  leaders  of  the 
Church  must  be  men  of  untiring  patience  in 
sowing  seed.  They  must  be  men  of  prophetic 
spirit  and  heroism — able  to  stir  and,  if  neces- 
sary, create  the  social  conscience  of  the  Church. 
They  must  be  men  of  reality  who  will  not  only 
talk  and  write,  but  above  all  will  lead  the 
Church  in  sacrificial  service,  the  true  medium  of 
the  power  of  Christ  for  the  regeneration  of 
society.  We  need  men  who  will  face  the  so- 
cial and  civic  wrongs  of  our  day  as  did  Chrysos- 
tom  in  Constantinople,  Savonarola  in  Florence, 
Knox  in  Scotland,  Calvin  in  Geneva,  Wesley  in 
England  in  his  time,  and  Maurice  and  Kingsley 
at  a  later  day. 


48   FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

More  young  men  possessing  exceptional 
strength  and  resources  must  devote  themselves 
to  the  Christian  ministry  if  the  nation  is  to  be- 
come and  remain  truly  great.  What  makes  a 
nation  truly  great  ?  Not  its  geographical  extent, 
not  the  number  of  its  inhabitants,  not  the  num- 
ber of  its  millionaires  nor  the  aggregate  amount 
of  its  wealth,  not  the  strength  of  its  army  and 
navy,  not  even  the  knoMrledge  or  intelligence  of 
its  people.  The  character  and  spirit  of  its  people 
alone  make  a  nation  really  great.  History  shows 
convincingly  that  character  cannot  be  made 
symmetrical  and  strong,  and  the  spirit  of  a 
people  preserved  in  freedom  and  vigor,  without 
the  superhuman  help  of  the  Christian  religion. 
Therefore,  this  calls  for  a  great  expansion  and 
strengthening  of  the  Church  of  North  America 
and  of  its  activities.  This  in  turn  requires  a 
succession  of  young  men  for  the  ministry  pos- 
sessing adequate  equipment  and  the  gift  of  pro- 
phetic leadership;  that  is,  young  men  who  have 
a  vision  of  what  a  nation  must  become  if  the 
people  are  to  advance  along  the  paths  of  right- 
eousness, and  who  have  also  the  strength  of 
conviction  and  purpose  and  the  eloquence  of  sin- 
cerity to  lead  the  people  along  these  paths. 


THE   URGENCY  49 

The  nation  can  be  saved  and  conserved  only 
by  Christian  character.  Follow  far  enough  any 
one  of  the  grave  problems  now  before  the  coun- 
try and  you  will  come  to  the  one  point — the  need 
of  better  men.  Only  as  a  nation  is  steadied, 
guided,  and  inspired  by  Christian  principles  will 
it  fulfill  its  destiny;  otherwise  it  will  pass  the 
way  of  other  nations  which  have  perished  from 
the  earth. 

"  He  who  will  not  be  ruled  by  the  rudder 
Shall  be  ruled  by  the  rock." 

The  greatest  peril  of  the  nation  is  secularism. 
Only  ideals,  enterprises,  and  enthusiasms  great 
enough  and  spiritual  enough  to  lift  men  out  of 
and  above  our  vast  material  and  selfish  interests 
can  save  us.  On  grounds  of  highest  patriotism, 
therefore,  more  of  the  choicest  spirits  among  the 
young  men  of  the  nation  are  called  upon  to  con- 
secrate themselves  to  the  ministry  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

Men  of  statesmanlike  qualities  are  required  in 
the  Christian  ministry  to-day  in  numbers  greater 
than  ever  before,  to  direct  the  irresistible  move- 
ments of  cooperation,  federation,  and  union 
which  are  gathering  momentum  among  Chris- 
tians all  over  the  world.    The  mere  statement  of 


50       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

the  proposition  carries  conviction  with  it.  One 
of  the  most  highly  significant  tendencies  is  in 
the  direction  of  a  more  real  and  practical  unity 
among  Christians.  It  is  manifesting  itself  in  all 
parts  of  the  world.  It  has  reached  different 
stages  in  different  lands,  and  the  forms  in  which 
it  is  expressing  itself  are  varied,  interesting,  and 
instructive.  It  is  a  movement  which  cannot  be 
withstood;  being  essentially  in  line  with  the 
prayer  of  our  Lord,  it  is  irresistible.  To  guide 
it  into  right  channels  and  forms,  calls  for  the 
highest  type  of  constructive  statesmanship.  It 
should  appeal  to  the  strongest  minds,  the  largest 
hearts,  and  the  spirits  with  widest  vision. 

The  need  of  developing  on  the  North  Ameri- 
can continent  a  strong  base  to  supply  and  main- 
tain the  force  needed  in  the  non-Christian  world, 
constitutes  in  itself  a  sufficient  call  for  more 
young  men  of  vision  and  capacity  for  achieve- 
ment to  enter  the  Christian  ministry.  The  very 
purpose  and  magnitude  of  the  foreign  missionary 
enterprise  support  this  claim.  What  are  the  aim 
and  scope  of  the  foreign  missionary  enterprise? 
To  make  Jesus  Christ  known,  loved,  and  obeyed 
among  the  multitudinous  inhabitants  of  the  non- 
Christian  world.    In  other  words  it  means  bring- 


THE   URGENCY  5 1 

ing  home  to  the  Family  of  God  the  entire  non- 
Christian  world  for  whom  Christ  died,  and  to 
whom  He  has  commanded  us  to  go.  It  is  the 
world-wide  establishment  of  His  Kingdom.  A 
great  responsibility  for  accomplishing  this  under- 
taking rests  upon  the  Christians  of  Great  Britain, 
of  the  United  States,  and  of  Canada,  if  we  may 
judge  by  the  availability  and  offering  of  lives, 
money,  and  directive  energy.  Owing  to  the 
greater  and  ever-increasing  resources  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  the  share  of  the  North 
American  Church  in  this  undertaking  must  be 
greatly  enlarged. 

The  present  is  a  time  of  unprecedented  oppor- 
tunity and  crisis  throughout  the  non-Christian 
world.  This  is  the  first  generation  in  which  it 
could  be  said  that  the  whole  world  is  known 
and  accessible.  The  forces  of  Christianity  are 
widely  distributed  and  occupy  most  of  the  com- 
manding positions.  Native  churches  have  been 
developed  and  have  acquired  a  power  of  initia- 
tive and  leadership  which  makes  possible  a 
great  advance.  Administrative  machinery  and 
supporting  movements  among  the  men,  the 
women,  and  the  youth  of  the  Church  have  been 
developed  on  the  home  field  to  an  extent  ade- 


S2       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE  CHURCH 

quate  to  the  successful  prosecution  of  a  vastly 
greater  campaign.  A  body  of  over  18,000  mis- 
sionaries has,  in  a  great  measure,  mastered  the 
conditions  involved  in  a  world-wide  extension 
of  Christ's  Kingdom  and  has  acquired  a  fund 
of  experience  which  makes  plain  the  lines  along 
which  the  war  of  peaceful  conquest  must  be 
waged.^  The  peoples  and  races  of  practically 
every  part  of  the  non-Christian  world  are  show- 
ing themselves  more  responsive  to  the  Christian 
appeal  than  at  any  time  in  the  history  of  the 
Christian  religion.  Social,  educational,  and  re- 
ligious movements  of  continental  sweep,  are  in 
progress,  and  furnish  conditions  which,  if  im- 
proved, will  facilitate  the  realization  of  the  aims 
of  the  Christian  propaganda.  The  talk  about 
crises  has  certainly  been  overdone,  but  beyond 
shadow  of  doubt  the  present  is  the  time  of  times 
for  pressing  the  advantage  which  the  forces  of 
Christianity  now  have  on  virtually  every  conti- 
nent of  the  globe. 

Why  does  the  Church  falter  on  the  threshold 
of  such  an  unparalleled  opportunity  ?  Because  it 
lacks  the  vision  of  the  need  and  opportunity,  and 

'  Statistical  Table  in  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World. 
New  Series.     Vol.  XXI,  p.  62. 


THE  URGENCY  5$ 

consequently  lacks  the  realization  of  an  obligation 
such  as  would  issue  in  prayer  and  sacrifice  on 
the  part  of  North  American  Christians.  This  in 
turn  is  only  tantamount  to  saying  that  there  are 
not  a  sufficient  number  of  leaders  of  the  ag- 
gressive forces  of  Christianity  on  this  continent 
who  themselves  are  inspired  by  a  vision  of  the 
world  evangelized  and  who  are,  therefore,  so 
ordering  their  lives  and  so  proclaiming  the 
truth  which  stirs  their  own  souls  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  churches  both  see  and  seize  the 
opportunity.  The ,  greatest  problem  of  foreign 
missions  is  not  on  the  foreign  field,  but  on  the 
home  field  and,  doubtless,  the  most  critical 
aspect  of  it  is  that  of  providing  adequate  leader- 
ship. To  secure  the  men,  money,  and  prayer 
needed,  and  that  before  it  is  too  late,  we  must 
have  a  ministry  filled  with  the  missionary  spirit. 
The  Church  is  ready  to  be  led.  The  minister 
must  lead.  But  he  must  be  a  large  man — one 
who  thinks  in  world  terms,  one  who  in  his  own 
soul  and  practice  is  obedient  to  the  world-wide 
vision,  and  one  who  has  the  courage  to  lead  his 
people  in  what  is,  for  the  first  time,  literally 
a  world-wide  campaign.  We  must  have  great 
leadership  for  great  movements. 


THE   OBSTACLES 


Ill 

THE   OBSTACLES 

The  secular  and  materialistic  spirit  of  the  age 
is  a  powerful  cause  in  diverting  young  men  from 
entering  the  ministry.  All  ages  have  been  ma- 
terialistic, but  at  no  time  in  the  past  and  in  no 
part  of  the  world  have  the  allurements  of  ma- 
terial progress  and  success  been  so  potent  with 
young  men  as  they  are  to-day  in  North  America. 
We  have  an  immense  continent  to  develop,  with 
immeasurable  latent  resources.  The  prodigious 
eflfort  involved  in  such  development  has  insensi- 
bly led  to  a  concentration  of  thought  and  effort 
on  the  seen  and  temporal.  Slowly,  in  multitudes 
of  families  and  communities,  the  spiritual  inter- 
ests have  been  pushed  into  the  background.  A 
secular  atmosphere  has  been  gradually  generated. 
The  unparalleled  prosperity  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  with  the  attendant  opportunities  for 
acquiring  wealth,  has  dazzled  the  youth  of  this 
57 


S8       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF   THE   CHURCH 

generation.  Material  success  is  the  charmed 
word  of  our  present-day  vocabulary.  It  affects 
strongly  even  the  boys.  Visible  material  prog- 
ress impresses  youth.  No  live  boy  can  fail  to  be 
interested  and  affected  by  the  whir  of  industry. 
Young  men  are  even  more  powerfully  influ- 
enced by  our  material  civilization.  They  find  not 
only  the  daiHes,  but  also  most  of  the  secular  week- 
lies and  the  monthly  magazines,  and  even  re- 
ligious periodicals,  given  up  to  exploiting  the 
material  achievements  of  the  day  and  to  mag- 
nifying the  men  of  great  wealth.  They  observe 
the  enormous  power  wielded  by  captains  of  in- 
dustry and  their  control  of  the  weal  or  woe  of 
thousands.  In  the  schools  and  colleges  they  con- 
stantly see  the  growing  prominence  and  popular- 
ity of  the  courses  of  study  which  look  toward  the 
development  of  material  resources.  Even  in 
Christian  homes  the  topic  of  most  absorbing  in- 
terest in  conversation  is  money  and  the  things 
that  money  can  buy.  Young  men  come  to  feel 
that  success  means  the  accumulation  of  prop- 
erty or  the  gaining  of  great  worldly  power  and 
prominence  rather  than  self-denying  service  for 
God  and  man.  This  cause  does  not  operate  only 
through  its  direct  influence  upon  the  boys.     It 


THE   OBSTACLES  59 

makes  itself  felt,  not  so  openly  but  no  less  po- 
tently, through  its  influence  upon  the  girls.  The 
thoughts  of  young  men  concerning  life  and  pur- 
poses in  life  are  strongly,  silently,  incessantly  af- 
fected by  the  ideals  and  unformulated  wishes  of 
the  girls  with  whom  they  associate.  If  the  girls 
thought  more  of  the  ministry,  the  boys  would 
think  more  of  it  too. 

Parental  ambition  looks  to  worldly  prefer- 
ment. "  Many  nominally  Christian  households 
are  pervaded  by  a  worldly  tone  and  an  atmos- 
phere of  unconscious  mammon-worship.  It  dis- 
solves the  moral  energy  and  weakens  the  ideal 
impulse  of  religion  in  our  best  boys  and  young 
men.  For  this,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  main 
cause  of  the  failures  of  the  Church  as  a  social 
organization  for  the  service  of  God  and  human- 
ity, to  beget  and  nurture  enough  strong  young 
men  for  her  leadership."  ^  Dr.  Rainsford,  at 
a  conference  in  New  York,  told  of  a  member 
of  his  church  who,  in  speaking  of  the  possibility 
of  her  son  entering  the  ministry,  said,  "  Charlie 
is  not  clever.  What  do  you  suppose  he  could 
earn  as   a   minister?"     Dr.  Rainsford   repHed, 

*  Letter  from  Professor  Henry  van  Dyke  in  the  Archives  of 
the  World's  Student  Christian  Federation. 


<5o       FUTURE  LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

"  He  would  be  lucky  if  he  ever  received  $5,000." 
*'  Why,"  said  she,  *'  his  father  is  getting  $50,000." 
Exit  Charlie  from  the  prospective  ministry.  How 
can  homes  in  which  money-getting  and  pleasure- 
seeking  are  the  chief  ideals  produce  a  supply  of 
men  who  will  be  ready  to  embrace  a  profession 
which  involves  self-denial  and  simplicity  of  life? 
Ministers  have  always  come  chiefly  from 
the  country,  but  country  boys  now  are  in  closer 
touch  with  the  cities  and  their  alluring  oppor- 
tunities for  acquiring  wealth,  and  therefore  an 
increasing  number  of  them  are  being  drawn 
into  money-making  pursuits.  This  secular  spirit 
of  the  age  has  invaded  the  Church  itself.  The 
results  are  seen  in  the  far  too  prevalent  and 
growing  worldliness,  pleasure-seeking,  self-in- 
dulgence, and  mammon-worship  which  charac- 
terize so  many  professed  Christians.  It  is  just 
as  true  to  say  that  there  is  a  secular  temper  in 
the  religion  of  our  day  as  that  a  religious  temper 
is  permeating  all  things  secular.  Such  are  not 
the  atmosphere  and  spirit  which  produce  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  the  right  kind  of  candidates  for 
the  ministry.^    Still,  it  should  be  insisted  that  the 

J  A.  T.  Mahan,  "The  Apparent  Decadence  of  the  Church's 
Influence,"  The  Churchman,  Vol.  LXXXVII,  p.  345. 


THE   OBSTACLES  6l 

pervasiveness,  dominating  power,  and  seriousness 
of  this  deterrent  influence  constitute  a  challenge 
to  many  of  the  best  men  to  devote  themselves  to 
this  calling  since  the  ministry  furnishes  the  van- 
tage ground  from  which  the  secular  spirit  can 
most  effectively  be  resisted  and  overcome. 

The  attractions  and  possibilities  of  the  so-called 
secular  pursuits,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  so 
many  young  men  believe  that  in  such  callings 
they  can  do  more  good  and  work  with  fewer  re- 
strictions as  laymen  than  they  could  in  the 
ministry,  militate  especially  against  more  young 
men  entering  the  Christian  ministry.  The  pro- 
portion of  increase  in  the  number  of  young  men 
entering  these  pursuits  has  been  far  greater  than 
of  those  choosing  the  ministry.  During  thirty- 
six  years  (1870- 1906),  the  number  of  divinity 
students  in  the  United  States  increased  but  137 
per  cent,  whereas  the  number  of  medical  stu- 
dents increased  302  per  cent,  the  number  of  law 
students  848  per  cent,  and  the  number  entering 
commercial  and  industrial  pursuits  increased  at 
an  enormously  greater  rate  than  the  number 
entering  the  professions  of  medicine  and  law.^ 

»  "Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  for  the  Year 
Ending  June  30,  1906,"  I,  p.  595. 


62       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

The  avenues  of  life  opening  before  educated 
men  are  much  more  numerous  than  formerly. 
In  England,  instead  of  the  old  narrow  choice, 
"  The  Army,  the  Navy,  the  Church,  and  the 
Bar,"  outside  which  it  was  scarcely  thought  pos- 
sible to  find  a  respectable  career,  a  young  man 
may  now  enter  any  one  of  a  score  of  callings. 
So  in  North  America,  there  were  but  three 
learned  professions — ^the  ministry,  law,  and  medi- 
cine— but  now  there  are  many:  for  example, 
journalism,  teaching,  architecture,  civil  engi- 
neering, mechanical  engineering,  electrical  en- 
gineering, mining  engineering,  naval  engineering, 
chemistry,  dentistry,  forestry,  scientific  agricul- 
ture, and  many  others  in  the  realm  of  applied  sci- 
ence. In  new  countries,  in  particular,  the  open- 
ings for  young  men  of  talent  have  been  greatly 
multiplied. 

In  these  days  it  is  not  accurate  to  speak  of 
such  callings  as  secular,  because  our  generation 
more  than  any  which  has  preceded  it  has  seen  a 
breaking  down  of  the  lines  separating  the  secular 
and  religious.  Men  now  speak  of  all  useful  call- 
ings as  sacred.  The  ministry  itself,  by  its  con- 
stant and  faithful  teaching  about  the  place  of 
Christ  as  Lord,  has  done  most  to  obliterate  the 


THE   OBSTACLES  63 

distinction  between  secular  and  sacred  callings. 
This  change,  as  Dr.  R.  W.  Dale  so  well  empha- 
sized, is  due  to  "  the  earnestness  with  which 
many  of  us  have  insisted  for  the  last  thirty  or 
forty  years  on  the  sacredness  of  industry,  com- 
merce, literature,  art,  and  the  liberal  professions. 
There  has  been  a  vehement  protest  against  any 
sharp  contrast  between  the  religious  and  the 
secular  life.  To  the  Christian  man  .  .  .  there 
are  no  sacred  places  .  .  .  times  .  .  .  persons. 
Christ  is  Lord  of  all  the  provinces  of  human 
life,  and  in  all  of  them  His  servants  may  faith- 
fully do  His  will."  1 

Thus  it  is  that  many  young  men  to-day  hon- 
estly believe  that  they  can  serve  God  and  man  in 
other  callings  better  than  in  the  ministry.  Some, 
for  example,  think  that  the  layman  who  makes 
money  and  gives  it  to  Christian  enterprises  can 
do  more  to  advance  Christ's  Kingdom  than  the 
pastor  of  a  single  church,  no  matter  how  eloquent 
and  efficient  he  may  be.  They  overlook  the  fact 
that  some  ministers  have  turned  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars  into  Christian  channels, 
whereas  in  business  they  probably  would  not  have 
made  and  given  more  than  a  small  proportion  of 

*  **  The  Epistle  of  James  and  Other  Discourses,"  pp.  282,  283. 


64   FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

what  they  have  thus  influenced.  Others  think 
that  some  caUings,  such  as  teaching,  afford 
larger  opportunity  to  impress  character  as  well 
as  to  advance  the  bounds  of  human  knowl- 
edge than  does  the  ministry.  The  multiplica- 
tion and  development  of  higher  educational  in- 
stitutions have  called  for  a  large  number  of 
specialists  in  the  higher  ranges  of  the  teaching 
profession ;  consequently,  many  young  men  who 
in  the  past  would  naturally  by  reason  of  their 
intellectual  tastes  have  gone  into  the  minis- 
try, have  been  drawn  into  the  profession  of 
teaching.^ 

We  are  not  considering  here  the  large  num- 
ber of  young  men  who  have  entered  these  call- 
ings with  selfish  motives,  but  the  number,  also 
large,  who  have  done  so  with  the  sincere  motive 
and  desire  to  be  in  a  position  to  render  service 
to  their  fellow-men.  When  it  is  pointed  out  that 
there  is  not  an  adequate  increase  in  the  number 
of  young  men  entering  the  ministry,  it  should  be 
emphasized  that  this  does  not  mean  that  the  vol- 
ume of  unselfish  service  is  decreasing  and  that 

*  W.  J.  Tucker,  "The  Religious  Motive  in  Education  as 
Illustrated  in  the  History  of  American  Colleges,"  in  "Volume 
of  Proceedings  of  the  Second  International  Congregational 
Council"  (1899),  p.  219. 


THE   OBSTACLES  6$ 

the  number  and  proportion  of  young  men  who 
want  to  serve  are  not  increasing,  for  that  is  cer- 
tainly not  the  case.  The  spirit  of  sacrifice  and 
service  for  the  good  of  mankind  is  stronger  and 
more  widely  prevalent  than  ever  before.  This  is 
the  most  encouraging  fact  of  our  generation. 
Though  the  number  of  clergymen  is  not  increas- 
ing as  we  should  like  to  see  it,  it  is  a  fact  which 
ought  to  inspire  with  hope  all  who  are  interested 
in  the  progress  of  religion  that  the  spirit,  tone, 
and  efficiency  of  the  laity  are  being  so  greatly  ele- 
vated. No  greater  service  has  been  rendered  by 
the  ministry  in  recent  years  than  that  of  facili- 
tating the  development  of  this  spirit  among  lay- 
men. But  there  is  no  great  truth  which  may  not 
be  perverted  or  pressed  too  far.  The  warning 
needs  to  be  sounded  out,  that  unless  there  be  an 
adequate  increase  in  the  number  of  able  young 
men  entering  the  ministry  to  devote  their  en- 
tire time  and  their  large  powers  to  promoting 
the  highest  standards  among  the  Christians  of 
our  day,  the  Church  will  soon  cease — certainly 
within  a  generation  —  to  have  strong  laymen 
dominated  by  this  conception  of  Christlike  ser- 
vice. Strong  men  are  required  to  influence 
strong  men. 


66       FUTURE  LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

Other  opportunities  for  Christian  service  as  a 
life-work  have  attracted  some  young  men  who 
might  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  Christian 
ministry.  During  the  past  twenty  years,  since 
the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign 
Missions  was  organized,  about  2,500  young  men, 
who  were  volunteers,  besides  many  young 
women,  have  gone  to  foreign  fields  under  the 
missionary  societies  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada.  Several  hundreds  of  students  who 
were  not  volunteers  have  also  been  sent  by  these 
boards.  The  total  number  of  new  male  mis- 
sionaries who  have  gone  out  within  this  period 
has  probably  not  exceeded  4,000.  If  we  were 
to  eliminate  those  who  have  devoted  themselves 
to  medical,  educational,  and  industrial  missions, 
it  would  leave  about  3,000  young  men  who  have 
entered  the  form  of  mission  service  correspond- 
ing to  the  Christian  ministry  at  home.  These 
3,000  should  be  counted  as  having  entered  the 
ministry,  though,  of  course,  they  have  not  aug- 
mented the  supply  of  pastors  in  North  America. 
But  even  had  they  stayed  at  home  and  entered 
the  ministry  here,  their  number  is  so  small 
compared  with  the  140,000  men  in  the  Prot- 
estant ministry  of  the  United  States  and  Canada 


THE   OBSTACLES  67 

that  it  would  not  have  supplied  the  great  need.^ 
It  should  be  emphasized,  moreover,  that  the 
propaganda  which  resulted  in  the  going  forth 
of  these  3,000  to  foreign  lands  has  resulted  in 
sending  an  even  greater  number  into  the  min- 
istry at  home,  who,  in  all  probability,  would  not 
otherwise  have  devoted  themselves  to  this  call- 
ing. In  the  first  place,  many  hundreds  of  vol- 
unteers, who  have  been  prevented  by  sufficient 
reasons  from  carrying  out  their  original  pur- 
pose, have  entered  the  home  ministry,  and  it  is 
interesting  to  note  that  a  very  large  proportion 
of  them  have  gone  into  the  most  destitute  fields 
of  North  America.  In  the  second  place,  large 
numbers  of  young  men  in  the  colleges,  who 
could  not  volunteer,  have  been  led  as  a  result 
of  being  summoned  to  face  the  missionary  ap- 
peal, to  consecrate  themselves  to  the  Christian 
ministry  at  home. 

A  considerable  number  of  young  men  wish  to 
devote  themselves  to  the  service  of  mankind,  but 
do  not  feel  drawn  to  the  Christian  ministry. 
They  have  been  touched  by  the  moral  and  spir- 

»H.  K.  Carroll,  "Statistics  of  the  Churches  of  the  United 
States"  (for  1907).  The  Christian  Advocate,  Vol.  LXXXIII, 
p.  138.     "The  Statesman's  Year-Book"  (1908),  p.  284. 


68   FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

itual  meaning  of  life,  and  desire  to  spend  their 
lives  in  practical  helpfulness.  They  are,  as  a 
rule,  men  of  talent,  and  are  found  in  the  full 
stream  of  the  intellectual  life  of  the  universi- 
ties. These  men  see  that  it  is  no  longer  neces- 
sary to  enter  the  ministry  in  order  to  express 
their  moral  and  spiritual  enthusiasm.  They  find 
various  other  altruistic  professions  which  appeal 
to  them.  Some  become  secretaries  or  managers 
of  charitable  or  other  philanthropic  organizations 
and  institutions.  Others  devote  their  lives  to  social 
settlements,  neighborhood  work,  boys'  and  other 
clubs.  Still  others  become  secretaries  of  mission- 
ary societies  and  other  benevolent  societies  of  the 
churches.  But,  in  the  aggregate,  the  number  en- 
tering these  forms  of  service  is  not  very  large. 

Some  have  feared  that  the  secretaryship 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
has  absorbed  too  many  men  of  capacity  who 
might  otherwise  have  entered  the  ministry.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  only  800  college  men  entered  the 
Association  work  during  the  decade,  1897  to 
1906,  and  of  these  less  than  300  have  continued 
in  Association  work.*     Of  the  500  who  did  not 

'  Statistics  furnished  by  John  Glover,  the  head  of  the 
Secretarial  Bureau  of  the  International  Committee  of  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations. 


THE   OBSTACLES  69 

continue,  a  large  proportion  of  those  really  quali- 
fied entered  missionary  service  or  the  Christian 
ministry.  Of  the  300  who  have  continued  in 
Association  work,  but  a  small  proportion  are  rec- 
ognized as  possessing  special  qualifications  for 
the  ministry.  These  300  have  been  drawn  from 
between  twenty  and  thirty  denominations  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  Only  a  superficial  ob- 
server would  say  that  "^he  Association  has  drawn 
into  permanent  service,  in  any  considerable  num- 
ber, young  men  who  would  probably  have  entered 
the  ministry.  Indeed,  the  requirements  of  the 
Association  secretaryship  are  for  the  most  part 
such  that  it  draws  men  who  would  be  apt  other- 
wise to  enter  business  careers. 

The  influence  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  instead  of  keeping  qualified  young 
men  from  entering  the  ministry,  has  become  one 
of  the  principal  factors  in  leading  them  to  de- 
vote themselves  to  this  calling.  While  this  is  es- 
pecially noticeable  in  the  student  Associations,  the 
city  Associations  also  send  many  of  their  mem- 
bers into  the  ministry.  For  example,  during  the 
past  twenty-one  years  the  general  secretary  of 
the  Association  in  Houston,  Texas,  influenced 
thirty  young  men  in  his  Bible  class  to  become 


70   FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

ministers.  Recent  developments  in  the  boys' 
work  and  the  county  work,  not  to  mention  other 
phases,  give  promise  that  the  general  Associa- 
tion movement  will  become  increasingly  useful 
in  enlisting  candidates  for  the  ministry. 

Attention  should  not  be  diverted  from  the 
main  issue.  Our  controversy  should  not  be  with 
these  other  forms  of  Christian  and  altruistic 
service  which,  as  has  been  shown,  in  comparison 
with  the  number  who  have  entered  the  ministry, 
have  attracted  but  a  small  number  of  men,  all  of 
whom  are  greatly  strengthening  the  hands  of  the 
Church;  but  it  should  be  with  those  other  and 
so-called  secular  careers,  which  are  absorbing 
too  large  a  share  of  the  brilliant  young  men  of 
our  generation. 

Many  young  men  are  automatically  diverted 
from  entering  the  ministry  as  a  result  of  having 
followed  courses  of  study  which  do  not  naturally 
prepare  them  for  meeting  the  present  require- 
ments of  most  of  the  theological  seminaries.  The 
developments  of  modern  science,  with  the  de- 
mand for  men  specially  trained  in  scientific  stud- 
ies, have  led  to  a  comparatively  recent  division 
of  school  courses  into  classical  and  modern. 
The  latter  have  become  increasingly  prominent. 


THE   OBSTACLES  71 

Large  numbers  of  the  brightest  boys  go  into 
the  science  courses.  But  the  modern  or  science 
courses  do  not  prepare  young  men  for  the  regu- 
lar theological  curriculum.  Omission  of  clas- 
sical studies  makes  it  difficult  for  young  men, 
who  later  have  the  ministry  brought  to  their 
attention,  to  give  it  favorable  consideration 
owing  to  the  fact  that  they  will  be  required 
to  retrace  their  steps  in  order  to  study  Greek 
and,  it  may  be,  other  subjects  also. 

The  science  courses,  owing  to  the  elimination 
of  the  group  of  philosophical  studies,  tend  to 
keep  young  men  from  the  point  of  view  which 
is  most  favorable  to  their  being  impressed  by  the 
call  to  the  ministry.  The  logical  result  of  the 
division  of  college  courses  into  classical,  scien- 
tific, and  other  groups  is  that  boys  in  the  pre- 
paratory schools  must  not  only  choose  their 
course  of  college  studies,  but  in  doing  this  must 
determine  their  careers  in  a  greater  measure  than 
many  people  have  realized.  Most  parents  do  not 
consider  where  the  studies  begun  by  their  boys 
at  eleven  or  twelve  years  of  age  will  logically  and 
practically  lead.  Most  schoolmasters  do  not  con- 
cern themselves  with  this  question.  More  should 
be  done  to  guide  both  parents  and  boys  at  the 


72       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

time    when    the    courses    of    study    are    being 
chosen  in  the  schools.^ 

The  theological  seminaries  should  do  more 
to  adjust  their  curricula  to  meet  the  needs  of 
young  men  who  go  to  them  direct  from  the 
science  courses.^  They  should  make  more  favor- 
able provision  for  admitting  such  men,  as  some 
of  them  have  recently  begun  to  do.  While  a 
young  man  looking  toward  the  ministry  is  at 
a  marked  disadvantage  if  he  has  not  had  the 
proper  start  in  the  study  of  Greek  and  philos- 
ophy, there  are  great  advantages  in  his  having 
had  thorough  preparation  in  science.  The  at- 
titude of  mind  acquired  in  the  study  of  science 
is  an  invaluable  asset  to  the  Christian  minister. 
The  habits  of  accuracy,  reserve  in  statement,  and 
freedom  from  exaggeration  which  should  be  the 
result  of  careful  scientific  studies,  are  of  first  im- 
portance to  the  preacher.  Besides  this,  ministers 
should  understand  the  scientific  spirit  which  char- 
acterizes so  many  of  the  best  minds  of  this  age. 

*  This  subject  is  helpfully  treated  by  Professor  F.  W. 
Kelsey,  of  the  University  of  Michigan  in  a  paper  soon  to 
appear  in  a  printed  symposium  on  the  value  of  humanistic 
studies  as  a  preparation  for  the  study  of  theology. 

2  See  W.  R.  Harper,  "The  Trend  in  Higher  Education/' 
Chapter  XIV.  See  also  C.  W.  Eliot,  "  Educational  Reform," 
Chapter  IV. 


THE   OBSTACLES  73 

Some  young  men  hold  aloof  from  entering  the 
ministry  because  they  are  not  yet  clear  in  their 
own  personal  faith.  Many  young  men,  at  the  age 
of  college  life,  are  more  or  less  unsettled  in  re- 
ligious matters.  The  period  of  intellectual  diffi- 
culties concerning  the  Christian  faith  and  that  of 
the  choice  of  a  life-work  often  coincide.  It  is  not 
strange,  therefore,  that  some  of  these  men,  in  the 
midst  of  the  intellectual  struggle  for  their  faith, 
decide  against  the  ministry.  Conversation  with 
men  of  this  class  discovers  in  their  minds  a  gen- 
eral sense  of  insecurity.  Their  views  are  unset- 
tled as  to  the  nature  and  authority  of  the  Bible. 
One  finds  not  only  questioning  as  to  the  nature 
of  Old  Testament  revelation,  but  a  serious  re- 
crudescence of  skepticism  about  the  New  Testa- 
ment. This  sense  of  uncertainty  about  the  char- 
acter and  scope  of  Divine  revelation  is  deepened 
in  the  minds  of  these  young  men  by  their  obser- 
vation of  ministers  who  themselves  are  unset- 
tled, and  who  give  public  expression  to  their 
doubts. 

In  the  midst  of  restatements  of  religious  truth, 
resulting  from  the  teachings  of  evolution,  as  well 
as  from  literary  criticism  and  philosophical  stud- 
ies, some  students  have  been  thrown  into  con- 


74      FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

fusion.  The  battle  which  continues  to  be  waged 
around  the  Person  of  Christ  has  also  resulted  in 
seriously  perplexing  many  an  earnest  soul  as  to 
the  corner-stone  doctrine  of  the  Christian  faith, 
the  Deity  of  Jesus  Christ.  Moreover,  the  atmos- 
phere in  which  not  a  few  young  men  find  them- 
selves is  unfavorable  to  the  definite  acceptance  of 
Divine  Revelation  and  dogmatic  creed.  Young 
men  doubt  whether  they  can  accept  traditional 
theological  views  and  subscribe  to  certain  creedal 
statements  without  sacrificing  their  intellectual 
honesty.  They  may  believe  much,  but  they 
question  whether  they  believe  enough  to  become 
teachers,  propagators,  and  custodians  of  the 
Christian  religion.  Without  doubt  there  are  a 
number  of  young  men  who  are  real  Christians, 
but  who,  because  of  this  unrest  and  lack  of  certi- 
tude, think  they  must  wait  for  clearer  light  be- 
fore they  can  go  forth  to  preach.  They  feel  that 
they  must  first  think  out  and  define  their  own 
position,  at  least  on  all  essentials. 

This  cause  does  not  deter  as  many  young  men 
from  entering  the  ministry  as  do  some  other 
difficulties,  but  it  does  concern  certain  men  of 
more  than  average  caliber  and  conscientiousness. 
These  intellectual  difficulties  do  not  keep  strong 


THE   OBSTACLES  75 

men  from  entering  the  ministry  to-day  as  much 
as  they  did  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago.  This 
opinion  is  shared  by  many  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic.  Such  difficulties  operate  less  now  than 
formerly  because  many  Christian  leaders,  regard- 
ing as  transitional  the  state  in  which  these  men 
find  themselves,  have  come  to  feel  that  a  wise 
tolerance  as  to  formal  statements  of  belief  at  this 
period  best  facilitates  the  leading  of  such  young 
men  into  settled  convictions  regarding  essential 
religious  truth.  They  concede  that  a  certain  lati- 
tude in  such  matters  may  be  permitted.  They 
recognize  that  toward  young  men  in  doubt,  the 
right  attitude  is  that  their  views  are  not  final. 
If  their  views  were  final,  they  might  not  serve 
usefully  in  the  ministry.  Leaders  of  the  Church 
consider  that  faith  is  a  living  thing,  that  it  must 
grow,  and,  therefore,  that  it  cannot  be  expected 
that  young  men  just  entering  the  ministry  will 
believe  in  a  complete  way  all  that  older  men  have 
come  to  believe  through  years  of  experience  and 
reflection.  The  fundamentals  are  few  and  belief 
in  them  alone  should  be  demanded. 

Instead  of  the  present  intellectual  freedom  and 
activity  and  its  resulting  unrest  being  permitted 
to    prevent    men    from    entering    the    ministry. 


76       FUTURE  LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

it  should  be  used  as  a  ground  of  appeal  for 
strong  men  to  devote  themselves  to  this  calling 
in  order  that  they  may  be  in  the  best  position  to 
help  a  multitude  of  people  in  real  need.  The  man 
who  has  fought  and  won  his  own  battle  with 
doubt,  is  able  to  render  assistance  sympathetically 
and  effectively  to  others  sorely  perplexed  and 
troubled  with  their  unanswered  religious  ques- 
tions. It  should  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
Church  is  more  in  harmony  with  unfettered 
modern  scholarship  than  is  commonly  believed. 
Christian  preachers  and  teachers  are  availing 
themselves  more  than  ever  of  the  assured  results 
of  scientific  investigation  to  state  religious  truth 
in  new  and  effective  forms.  The  Church  wel- 
comes all  the  light  that  science  and  reverent  criti- 
cism can  throw  upon  the  problems  of  religious 
life  and  faith. 

Some  men  are  deterred  from  entering  the 
ministry  because  they  fear  they  will  not  have 
liberty  of  expression.  The  prevalent  scientific 
spirit  fosters  the  desire  for  intellectual  freedom. 
These  men  think  that  in  the  ministry  this  free- 
dom is  impossible;  that  they  cannot  speak  out 
frankly  the  truth  as  they  see  it;  and,  therefore, 
that  they  cannot,  with  intellectual  sincerity,  con- 


THE   OBSTACLES  77 

form  to  what  they  understand  their  church  re- 
quires. Some  of  the  keenest  among  their  num- 
ber conscientiously  believe  that  the  churches 
have  dogmatic  standards  for  membership  and 
ordination  which  are  untrue  to  the  teaching,  em- 
phasis, and  spirit  of  Christ.  They  are  con- 
fronted by  the  spectacle  of  trials  for  heresy,  of 
the  exiling  of  men  from  the  confidence  and  com- 
panionship of  their  fellow  ministers,  of  the 
persecution  of  certain  ministers  as  a  result  of 
the  misunderstanding  of  their  position  by  the 
people  whom  they  unselfishly  serve — all  this  and 
much  more,  not  because  of  any  lapse  in  char- 
acter, not  because  of  any  lack  of  efficiency  and 
ability  in  discharging  the  regular  functions  of 
the  ministry,  not  because  of  any  failure  in  the 
spirit  of  service,  but  because  of  not  expressing 
their  religious  convictions  in  terms  which  their 
own  ecclesiastical  bodies  have  formulated  and 
regard  as  essential.  In  some  cases  these  results 
are  due  to  the  minister  standing  for  truth,  in 
other  cases  to  his  standing  for  error.  But  be 
the  causes  what  they  may,  young  men  noticing 
the  facts,  perhaps  superficially,  shrink  from  en- 
tering a  calling  in  which  they  fear  that  if  they 
are  honest  with  themselves  and  with  others  they 


78       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

may  be  subjected  to  persecution,  and,  therefore, 
hold  back  from  thus  placing  themselves  within 
ecclesiastical  trammels. 

Apart  entirely  from  lack  of  freedom  of  ex- 
pression regarding  questions  of  belief,  some 
fear  that  the  minister  may  not  be  allowed  to 
proclaim  his  honest  convictions  about  the  ap- 
plication of  the  principles  and  spirit  of  Christ 
to  the  personal,  social,  industrial,  civic,  and  na- 
tional problems  of  our  time.  They  see,  for 
example,  some  ministers  who  are  apparently 
tied  hand  and  foot  by  fear  of  offending  rich 
members  of  their  congregations  if  they  teach 
what  they  know  to  be  the  truth;  they  see  others 
equally  trammeled  by  their  desire  to  say  noth- 
ing which  might  alienate  from  the  Church  the 
laboring  classes.  They  observe  that  many  min- 
isters are  failing  to  sound  out  the  prophetic  and 
heroic  note  in  the  face  of  grave  social  injustice, 
civic  corruption,  and  political  wrongs,  and  they 
infer  that  in  the  ministry  it  is  impossible  for  a 
man  to  be  true  to  his  own  best  self  and  to  give 
voice  to  the  deepest  convictions  of  his  soul. 
But  it  needs  to  be  indicated  to  strong  young 
men,  facing  the  question  of  their  life-work,  that 
hampered  though  the  pulpit  may  appear  to  be, 


THE   OBSTACLES  79 

the  ministry  is  the  most  nearly  free  of  all  the 
professions.  One  need  think  only  of  the  limita- 
tions by  which  the  average  journalist,  or  pro- 
fessor of  political  economy,  or  Congressman  finds 
himself  circumscribed  in  respect  to  the  matter 
of  freedom  of  expression.  Moreover,  quite  apart 
from  realms  in  which  limitations  are  experi- 
enced, the  minister  has  vast  and  practically 
boundless  fields  of  doctrinal  and  ethical  truth, 
both  of  vital  and  permanent  value,  concerning 
which  he  may  express  himself  with  perfect  free- 
dom. 

The  high  conception  which  some  young  men 
entertain  of  the  moral  requirements  of  the  min- 
istry holds  them  back  from  devoting  themselves 
to  this  calling.  They  have  such  an  exalted  ideal 
of  the  spiritual  character  of  the  true  minister 
and  such  a  sense  of  their  own  unworthiness  that 
they  shrink  from  entering  the  ministry.  They 
feel  incompetent  because  they  conscientiously 
beheve  that  this  profession  calls  for  a  higher 
order  of  manhood  than  they  possess.  Young 
men  have  a  strong  sense  of  reality.  They  be- 
lieve that  the  minister  should  practice  what  he 
preaches,  and  yet  they  recognize  that  he  must 
hold  up  the  highest  ideals  and  exhort  people  to 


8o       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

conform  to  nothing  less  than  the  standards  of 
Christ.  Is  it  strange  that  they  look  upon  re- 
ligion as  easier  to  face  if  they  do  not  have  to 
preach  about  it  weekly,  or  that  they  should  con- 
clude that  it  will  be  easier  to  be  honest  outside 
the  pulpit  than  in  it?  The  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, in  an  address  at  the  Annual  Conference 
of  the  Diocese  of  Canterbury  in  the  year  1907, 
thus  called  attention  to  this  deterrent  influence: 
"  Some  men,  who  would  in  the  old  days  have 
been  ordained  readily  enough,  shrink  now — and 
it  is  to  their  credit — from  facing  the  higher 
standard  of  earnestness  which  is  rightly  looked 
for."  1 

On  the  other  hand,  their  knowledge  of  the 
inconsistencies  and  shortcomings  of  some  men 
whom  they  know  in  the  ministry,  and  of  some 
ministerial  candidates  with  whom  they  have  as- 
sociated in  college,  leads  young  men  not  to  wish 
to  expose  themselves  to  the  possibility  of  mak- 
ing similar  lapses.  The  very  publicity  of  the 
failure  of  ministers  makes  such  young  men  the 
more  fearful.  Moreover,  men  of  the  right  sort 
are  often  doubtful  about  satisfying  the  expecta- 
tions of  modern  congregations  which  are  so 
^  The  Guardian^  No.  3210.     (June  12,  1907.) 


THE   OBSTACLES  8i 

keenly  critical.  They  vividly  recall  much  com- 
mon table  talk  and  the  social  gossip  reflecting 
scornfully  on  the  ministry,  and  the  all  too  fre- 
quent unfavorable  comment  of  the  secular  press 
and  current  fiction.  Examples  of  ministers 
unjustly  pilloried  by  modern  society,  even  by 
members  of  churches,  have  exerted  their  un- 
conscious but  real  influence.  In  connection, 
however,  with  this  deterrent  it  should  be  borne 
in  mind  that  in  these  days  when  the  social 
aspects  of  Christianity  are  being  emphasized  as 
never  before,  there  are  coming  to  be  no  less 
exacting  moral  demands  made  on  Christian  lay- 
men than  those  now  made  on  Christian  min- 
isters. The  very  essence  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  the  holding  up  of  one  standard  for  all 
Christians.  The  superior  sanctity  of  the  min- 
ister is  a  later  Roman  Catholic  and  mediaeval 
idea.  Furthermore,  we  should  remind  young 
men  that,  notwithstanding  all  that  has  been 
stated,  the  true  and  able  minister  of  Christ  has 
the  respect  and  support  of  the  best  people  both 
in  and  outside  the  Church  in  almost  every  com- 
munity. 

The  misconception  that  the  ministry  does  not 
offer  adequate  scope  for  the  strongest  men  ex- 


S2       FUTURE  LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

plains  why  some  young  men  do  not  devote  them- 
selves to  this  calling.  That  there  is  such  a  mis- 
conception no  one  questions  who  has  had  any 
considerable  touch  with  young  men.  How  can 
we  account  for  it?  The  impression  that  some 
theological  schools  do  not  maintain  so  high  in- 
tellectual standards,  and  do  not  have  so  exacting 
requirements  as  do  the  medical  and  law  schools 
with  which  a  young  man  is  familiar,  explains  it 
in  some  cases. 

These  young  men  regard  with  disfavor  the 
practice  of  granting  to  theological  students  finan- 
cial help  and  other  facilities  that  are  not  also 
granted  to  students  preparing  for  other  useful 
callings.  They  know  cases  among  their  fellow 
students  of  men  receiving  such  aid  who  did  not 
need  it,  and  of  others  who,  because  of  their  man- 
ner of  life,  did  not  deserve  it.  They  have  seen 
some  men  of  no  special  promise  encouraged  by 
plans  of  pecuniary  assistance  to  enter  the  minis- 
try— men  who  probably  would  never  have  suc- 
ceeded in  entering  this  calling  through  their 
own  self-denial,  aggressiveness,  and  persistence. 
They  have  been  influenced  by  such  current  maga- 
zine comment  as  the  following :  "  Can  self-reli- 
ance be  produced  where  there  is  no  reliance  upon 


THE   OBSTACLES  83 

self?  Can  independence  be  developed  when  a 
man  is  taught  first  of  all  to  lean  upon  others? 
Can  moral  muscle  be  developed  or  the  spiritual 
vertebrae  be  stiffened  by  the  '  aid  '  which  saves 
from  stress  and  strain?  ...  To  ask  these  ques- 
tions is  to  answer  them."  ^  They  are  impressed 
by  the  conviction  thus  expressed  by  Phillips 
Brooks :  '*  I  am  convinced  that  the  ministry  can 
never  have  its  true  dignity  or  power  till  it  is 
cut  aloof  from  mendicancy, —  till  young  men 
whose  hearts  are  set  on  preaching  make  their 
way  to  the  pulpit  by  the  same  energy  and 
through  the  same  difficulties  which  meet  count- 
less young  men  on  their  way  to  business  and 
the  bar."  2 

It  may  as  well  be  admitted  in  dealing  with 
young  men  who  have  been  influenced  by  this  dif- 
ficulty, that  there  are  cases  in  which  the  aid 
granted  to  students  for  the  ministry  did  no  good 
— in  fact,  did  harm.  At  the  same  time  it  should 
be  shown  that  many  students  need  to  be  aided, 
but  that  the  aid  they  receive  must  be  the  aid  that 
truly  helps.    Self-denial  and  strenuous  effort  are 

»E.  T.  Tomlinson,  "Coddling  Theological  Students,"  in 
The  World's  Work,  Vol.  X,  p.  6154. 
'  "Lectures  on  Preaching,"  p.  36. 


84   FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

necessary  to  develop  power,  and  the  assistance 
granted  should  not  be  sufficient  to  prevent  their 
receiving  this  development.  There  should  be  no 
assistance  granted  beyond  actual  need.  When 
the  financial  cooperation  is  not  in  the  form  of  a 
loan  to  be  repaid  in  due  time,  the  aid  given 
should  so  far  as  possible  be  conditioned  upon 
service  rendered,  or  upon  attainment  in  scholar- 
ship. If  the  United  States  may  fitly  train  men  at 
West  Point  and  Annapolis  free  of  cost  in  order 
that  the  Army  and  Navy  may  be  provided  with 
capable  officers,  it  has  been  argued  that  the 
Church  may  also  provide  for  the  training  of  its 
ministers  without  the  imputation  of  unfavorable 
results.  But,  in  this  case,  the  Church  should  ex- 
ercise equal  thoroughness  in  the  selection  of  its 
candidates,  and  should  expose  them  to  rigid  tests. 
Moreover,  just  as  the  Government  requires 
that  graduates  of  the  Military  Academy  shall  de- 
vote four  years  to  the  service  of  the  nation,^ 
should  not  the  Church  require  that  those  whom 
it  educates  devote  a  period  of  years  to  service 
in  destitute  fields  or  in  whatever  places,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  leaders  of  the  Church,  their 

'  "The  Military  Laws  of  the  United  States"  (1908),  par. 
1484. 


THE   OBSTACLES  8$ 

work  is  most  needed?  If  the  theological  student 
is  made  to  realize  that  he  is  received  on  the 
same  footing  as  other  students,  and  that  his 
isolation  is  not  a  professional  isolation  based 
on  privilege,  he  will  gain  in  self-respect  and 
also  commend  his  calling  more  fully  to  other 
students. 

The  absence  of  men  from  certain  churches, 
and  the  thought  that  these  churches  have  to  deal 
mostly  with  women  and  children,  have  helped 
to  cause,  in  some  minds,  the  misconception  that 
the  ministry  does  not  present  sufficient  opportu- 
nity to  exercise  the  talents  of  strong  men. 
Again,  the  young  man  notices  that  some  city 
churches  are  made  up  of  people  of  wealth, 
culture,  and  refinement,  and  decides  that  work 
with  such  people  would  be  too  easy  and  along 
too  soft  lines.  Or,  his  special  acquaintance  with 
churches  may  be  in  the  small  towns  and  villages 
where  there  are  probably  too  many  churches  to 
leave  sufficient  room  for  utilizing  all  the  powers 
of  a  strong  man  in  the  ministry.  Without  doubt, 
the  object  lesson  of  the  pettiness  and  competi- 
tion of  some  small  parishes  is  not  likely  to  im- 
press an  ambitious  young  man  with  the  scope  and 
possibilities  of  the  ministry.     The  dullness,  lack 


86       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

of  variety,  parochial  outlook,  and  sectarian  spirit 
which  characterize  the  ministry  in  many  a  com- 
munity do  not  appeal  to  the  aggressive  young 
man  as  offering  vent  for  his  spirit  of  Christian 
enterprise. 

Then,  it  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  the 
prevalent  ambition  of  young  men  "  to  do  things," 
as  they  express  it.  To  build  a  bridge,  to  or- 
ganize a  corporation,  to  frame  a  law,  to  dis- 
cover some  new  way  to  relieve  physical  suf- 
fering— all  these  seem  to  be  achievements,  but 
the  work  of  the  ministry  does  not  seem  to  them 
in  any  real  sense  the  achieving  of  tangible  and 
important  results.  So,  owing  to  these  and  other 
considerations,  some  young  men  receive  the  im- 
pression that  the  ministry  is  lacking  in  real  spir- 
itual and  moral  adventure.  The  very  existence 
of  conditions  making  possible  such  a  misconcep- 
tion constitutes  a  challenge  for  more  of  the 
strongest  young  men  to  enter  this  calling  in  or- 
der to  change  or  master  the  conditions. 

The  inadequate  financial  provision  made  for  so 
many  ministers  is  another  reason  why  young  men 
do  not  enter  the  ministry.  While  the  cost  of 
preparation  for  the  ministry,  the  cost  of  living, 
and  the  special  demands  on  the  minister's  purse 


THE  OBSTACLES  87 

are  much  larger  than  formerly,  his  salary  has 
not,  as  a  rule,  been  proportionately  increased. 
In  many  places  the  salary  has  decreased.  It  has 
also  less  purchasing  power  than  it  had  a  few 
years  ago.  The  same  is  true  in  England,  where 
the  whole  standard  of  comfort  has  increased 
while  clerical  incomes  have  decreased.  Some 
Christian  denominations  are  doing  better  by 
their  ministers  in  this  respect  than  others ;  for 
example,  the  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland, 
the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  South  Africa, 
and  the  Canadian  Presbyterian  Church. 

At  the  same  time,  I  know  of  no  Christian 
communion  or  denomination  which  makes  ade- 
quate provision  for  its  ministers.  In  far  too 
many  cases  the  treatment  is  nothing  less  than 
scandalous.  As  some  one  has  pointed  out, 
*'  starvings  "  would  be  a  better  name  than  "  liv- 
ings," in  mentioning  the  provision  made  in 
these  times  for  many  ministers  in  different  com- 
munions, Thomas  Guthrie  tells  of  an  honest 
weaver  who  claimed  that  the  Church  never  had 
better  ministers  than  in  the  days  when  they  wan- 
dered in  sheepskins  and  goatskins  and  lived  in 
the  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth.  Guthrie  replied, 
in  his  address  as  Moderator,  that  it  would  be 


88       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

time  to  treat  the  question  seriously  "  when  our 
people  are  prepared  to  walk  Princes  Street  with 
Dr.  Candlish  and  me  in  .  .  .  the  fashion  of 
goatskins  with  the  horns  on !  "  ^  Bishop  Ames 
was  approached  by  a  committee  in  search  of  a 
minister.  He  asked  them  to  indicate  the  salary. 
On  their  naming  a  small  sum,  he  told  an  incident 
about  meeting  a  drunken  soldier  who,  during  the 
war,  had  been  decorated  for  bravery.  He  asked 
the  soldier :  *'  How  can  you  be  intoxicated  after 
such  heroic  conduct  ? "  The  soldier  replied, 
"  You  can't  expect  all  the  cardinal  virtues  on 
thirteen  dollars  a  month."  Thousands  of  minis- 
ters receive  stipends  which  amount  to  less  than 
the  wages  of  day  laborers.  The  commission  ap- 
pointed by  President  Roosevelt  to  settle  the  strike 
of  the  anthracite  coal  miners  reported  these  aver- 
age annual  earnings  of  certain  classes  of  labor- 
ers in  Pennsylvania:  stablemen,  $689.52;  pump- 
men, $685.72;  carpenters,  $603.90;  blacksmiths, 
$557.43.^  In  contrast,  there  are  literally  thou- 
sands of  ministers  in  the  United  States  who  re- 
ceive smaller  salaries  than  these,  even  including 
house  rent.     The  average  minister  and  his  wife 

1  "Autobiography  of  Thomas  Guthrie,"  II,  p.  256. 
*  Bulletin  of  the  Department  of  Labor,  No.  46  (May,  1903), 
p.  607. 


THE   OBSTACLES  89 

are  uncomplaining,  but  their  poverty  involves 
many  a  pathetic  experience,  and  now  and  then  a 
real  tragedy.  Protestant  Christians  prefer  mar- 
ried clergy,  and  yet  insist  in  too  many  cases  on 
their  being  paid  as  though  they  were  celibates 
and  anchorites.  As  a  writer  recently  said  in  one 
of  our  religious  periodicals,  a  minister  of  to-day 
in  many  a  case  m.ust  choose  debt,  celibacy,  or  a 
rich  wife. 

Two  or  three  generations  ago,  especially  in 
frontier  communities,  it  seemed  impossible  to  pay 
the  minister  a  fixed  and  adequate  salary.  It  be- 
came the  custom,  therefore,  to  make  up  the  ad- 
mittedly inadequate  salary  by  gifts  of  produce 
and  clothing,  and  by  special  prices  granted  by 
merchants.  This  practice  still  continues,  and 
many  parishes,  no  longer  under  the  necessity,  fol- 
low methods  which  make  the  pastor  almost  a 
mendicant  and  lower  him  in  the  eyes  of  himself 
and  others.  Too  often,  also,  congregations  are 
delinquent  in  paying  salaries.  Passing  the  ques- 
tion  as  to  whether  it  is  honest  for  a  corporation 
not  to  keep  its  contracts  and  pay  its  debts,  in  what 
position  does  this  leave  the  minister?  If  he 
presses  for  the  payment  of  his  salary  he  may  be 
accused  of  being  mercenary.     If  he  allows  the 


90   FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

congregation  to  continue  to  default,  he  is  en- 
couraging lax  moral  ideals  and  so  losing  in- 
fluence. The  minister  who  is  obliged  to  accept 
gifts  from  the  congregation,  and  lower  prices 
than  others  receive  from  merchants,  grocers, 
butchers,  and  marketwomen,  may  come  to  be 
regarded  by  members  of  his  congregation  as  an 
object  of  charity  instead  of  a  spiritual  adviser 
and  leader. 

The  financial  demands  on  the  minister  are 
greater  in  proportion  to  income  than  upon  any 
other  member  of  the  community.  He  is  expected 
to  maintain  a  high  level  of  respectability  in  his 
household,  in  his  personal  appearance,  and  in 
practices  involving  expenditure.  He  cannot  live 
as  do  some  of  his  parishioners.  He  and  his  fam- 
ily are  more  in  the  public  eye  than  are  most  of 
them.  He  and  his  wife  must  come  well  dressed 
into  homes ;  otherwise  he  will  not  wield  influence 
in  some  of  the  most  important  families.  He  has 
many  appeals  for  hospitality  and  charity,  and,  as 
a  rule,  is  the  first  person  solicited  by  benevolent 
enterprises  and  destitute  individuals.  He  is  in  a 
position  to  know,  as  no  one  else,  cases  of  real  and 
deserving  need.  He  must  keep  fresh  and  up  to 
date  for  the  sake  of  his  work  and  influence.    This 


THE   OBSTACLES  91 

requires  money  for  books,  periodicals,  reviews, 
attendance  upon  conferences,  and  occasional  jour- 
neys. He  may  be  pious  without  these  things, 
but  he  will  not  hold  his  position  as  leader,  nor 
command  the  confidence  of  the  thinking  men  of 
his  congregation.  As  an  educated  man,  he  right- 
ly regards  the  education  of  his  children  as  an 
absolute  necessity.  He  must  also  make  provision 
for  old  age.  How  can  the  minister  on  the  aver- 
age salary  meet  as  he  should  these  demands,  the 
reasonableness  of  which  must  be  admitted  by  all 
who  have  a  true  conception  of  the  work  and 
position  of  the  Christian  minister. 

Some  young  men  recognize  these  facts  and  con- 
siderations, but  what  makes  this  cause  a  much 
greater  hindrance  is  the  fact  that  many  parents 
recognize  the  situation,  and  have  been  so  much 
influenced  by  it  that  they  discourage  their  sons 
from  considering  the  Christian  ministry  as  a  life- 
work.  Moreover,  a  much  larger  number  of  min- 
isters than  is  realized  feel  this  matter  so  keenly 
as  a  result  of  their  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
facts  that,  while  they  may  not  discourage  young 
men  from  considering  the  ministry  as  a  life-work, 
they  are  not  enthusiastically  and  aggressively 
seeking  to  direct  them  into  this  calling. 


92       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

There  are  offsetting  considerations.  Most  can- 
didates for  the  ministry  still  come  from  the  homes 
of  the  poor  or  of  those  of  moderate  means,  and 
can  more  readily  adjust  themselves  to  the  con- 
ditions described.  There  are  other  callings,  also, 
which  offer  small  remuneration.  Men  begin  in 
law  and  medicine,  as  a  rule,  with  even  less  than 
they  do  in  the  ministry.  Teachers  are  in  many 
cases  even  less  adequately  paid  than  ministers. 
Colleges  have  scores  of  applications  from  doc- 
tors of  philosophy  for  positions  which  command 
salaries  of  not  more  than  $600.  It  is  a  hard 
struggle  for  the  great  mass  of  the  human  race, 
in  most  departments  of  effort,  to  make  financial 
ends  meet.  The  true  minister  will  preach  the 
Gospel  whether  the  Church  supports  him  or  not. 
Nothing  will  stop  him  save  failing  health.  One 
cannot  forget  the  spectacle  of  500  ministers  of 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  at  the  time  of  the 
Disruption  disestablishing  and  disendowing  them- 
selves— laying  on  the  altar  of  conscience  a  rev- 
enue of  over  $500,000  a  year — a  moral  attitude 
characterized  by  a  British  Premier  as  "  majestic." 
Many  of  them  lived  for  years  on  one  third  of 
their  former  incomes,  dwelling  in  humble  cot- 
tages and  subsisting  on  the  plainest  fare.    They 


THE   OBSTACLES  93 

gladly  denied  themselves  ordinary  comforts  until 
the  necessary  church  buildings  and  other  facili- 
ties could  be  restored.  They  did  this  because  a 
great  principle  was  involved. 

It  has  ever  been  the  glory  of  the  Christian 
ministry  that  no  cost  has  been  counted  too  great 
when  sacrifice  was  necessary.  But  nothing  makes 
it  necessary  that  the  leaders  of  the  Church, 
handicapped  and  burdened  for  want  of  needed 
means,  should  carry  forward  a  work  of  unselfish 
service  on  behalf  of  men  who  are  able  to  pro- 
vide them  an  adequate  support.  No  man  worth 
his  salt  would  hesitate  to  become  a  minister  be- 
cause the  emoluments  were  small,  if  they  could 
not  be  larger;  but  to  become  a  minister  under 
existing  conditions  is,  in  far  too  many  cases,  to 
become  the  servant  of  inconsiderateness  and  self- 
ishness. If  really  necessary,  many  a  minister  and 
his  wife  would  be  glad  to  lay  aside  pretense  and 
do  home  missionary  work  on  a  proper  basis,  liv- 
ing as  do  settlement  workers,  in  poor  districts 
among  destitute  people.  Men  are  not  less  heroic 
than  of  old;  but  they  have  knowledge  and  dis- 
cernment, and  they  see  that  it  is  not  poverty,  but 
carelessness  and  selfishness  that  dictate  the  finan- 
cial provision  for  many  ministers  to-day.  They  see 


94   FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

also  that  the  evils  of  sectarianism,  especially  the 
unreasonable  and  wasteful  division  of  the  Chris- 
tian forces  in  so  many  communities,  account  in  no 
small  measure  for  the  existence  of  the  problem, 
and  fear  that  if  they  enter  the  ministry  in  the 
midst  of  such  conditions  they  will  but  accentu- 
ate the  difficulty.  Nothing  is  clearer  than  that 
the  different  Christian  communions  should  deal 
thoroughly  with  the  problem  of  insuring  ade- 
quate salaries  for  their  ministers,  and  that  the 
various  Christian  bodies  unitedly  should  agree  on 
a  poHcy  which  will  do  away  with  the  unneces- 
sary multiplication  and  unwise  distribution  of 
churches. 

Few  young  men  are  held  back  from  entering 
the  ministry  by  the  talk  about  the  dead  line — 
that  is,  the  assertion  that  after  a  certain  age,  say 
fifty,  the  minister  is  no  longer  wanted  in  the  bet- 
ter class  of  appointments  and  parishes.  As  a 
rule,  even  ambitious  young  men  do  not  look  so 
far  ahead.  When  they  do,  they  imagine  that  they 
will  be  exceptions,  because  no  young  man  ex- 
pects to  fail.  When  they  do  think  into  the  mat- 
ter at  all  closely,  they  discover  that  most  men 
do  not  reach  a  dead  line,  and  that  in  cases  where 
there  has  been  apparently  as  early  an  age  limit 


THE   OBSTACLES  95 

as  that  mentioned,  there  have  been  physical,  men- 
tal, or  moral  causes  which  could  have  been  avert- 
ed. In  other  words,  men  forced  themselves  to 
the  dead  line  by  lack  of  thorough  preparation  for 
the  ministry  or  by  subsequent  lack  of  application 
and  discipline.  They  suffered  atrophy.  They 
went  to  seed.  The  same  causes  would  retire 
them,  destroy  their  efficiency,  or  prevent  their 
promotion  in  other  professions.  A  dead  line 
exists  in  the  business  world  to-day  more  surely 
than  in  the  ministry.  One  hears  of  many  promi- 
nent business  houses  which  do  not  wish  to  take 
on  men  over  forty  years  of  age.  When  one  re- 
calls the  growing  influence  and  strength  of  grasp 
manifested  by  men  like  Dr.  Alexander  Whyte,  of 
Edinburgh,  Dr.  Theodore  L.  Cuyler,  of  Brook- 
lyn, Archbishop  Nicolai,  of  Japan,  Dr.  Alexander 
Maclaren,  of  Manchester,  and  the  late  Bishop 
Andrews  of  New  York,  he  clearly  recognizes 
that  there  is  nothing  inherent  in  the  Christian 
ministry  which  militates  against  a  life-long  career 
of  growth,  power,  and  usefulness. 

The  principal  reason  why  young  men  of  the 
highest  qualifications  are  not  entering  the  min- 
istry in  larger  numbers  is  the  lack  of  definite, 
earnest,  prayerful  efforts  to  influence  them  to 


90       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP    OF   THE   CHURCH 

devote  themselves  to  this  calling.^  While  the 
pronouncedly  Christian  home  has  been  in  the  past 
the  chief  factor  in  influencing  young  men  to  give 
themselves  to  the  Christian  ministry,  the  number 
of  homes  in  which  parents  set  before  their  sons 
any  other  ideals  than  material  gain  or  worldly 
fame  is  diminishing.  Parents  are  less  eager 
than  formerly  to  have  their  sons  enter  the 
ministry.  This  is  notably  true  in  the  case  of 
well-to-do  families.  In  the  old  days,  they  not 
infrequently  set  apart  the  firstborn  son  or,  at 
any  rate,  one  of  the  boys  for  this  calling.  To- 
day many  parents  hope  their  neighbors'  sons 
will  become  ministers,  but  not  their  own.  Even 
ministers  and  their  wives,  in  an  increasing  num- 
ber of  cases,  are  not  encouraging  their  sons  to 
consider  this  calling.  Far  too  frequently  they 
positively  discourage  such  serious  consideration. 
How  few  ministers  are  putting  forth  continu- 
ous and  intense  efforts  to  recruit  the  ranks  of  the 
ministry.  How  seldom  one  hears  a  sermon  ad- 
dressed either  to  young  men,  appealing  to  them 
to  consider  the  claims  of  the  ministry,  or  to 
parents   to   dedicate   their   sons  to  the  ministry 

*  W.  W.  Moore  in  Inaugural  Address  as  President  of  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  Richmond,  Virginia,  May  9,  1905. 


THE   OBSTACLES  97 

and  to  encourage  their  going  into  that  vocation. 
How  few  ministers  have  lists  of  likely  candidates 
for  the  ministry  whom  they  are  cultivating  with 
that  degree  of  earnestness  which  characterizes 
the  work  one  regards  as  most  important. 

Is  it  not  strange  that  there  is  so  little  litera- 
ture defining  and  presenting  the  call  to  the 
ministry  in  terms  of  the  present  age  and  oppor- 
tunity? What  other  subject  of  such  tran- 
scendent importance  has  been  so  neglected?  It 
is  alarming,  but  true,  that  there  are  still  col- 
leges in  America  in  which  the  idea  of  the  min- 
istry as  a  life-work  is  not  so  much  as  suggested 
to  a  young  man  from  the  beginning  to  the  end 
of  his  course.  Many  a  Christian  college  could 
be  named  in  which  not  even  one  professor  is 
giving  time  regularly  to  personal  work  with 
young  men  regarding  their  life-work  and  their 
relation  to  Christ.  Even  the  Christian  Student 
Movement,  which  has  a  unique  opportunity  and 
a  commensurate  responsibility,  has  fallen  far 
short  of  doing  its  duty.  This  failure  is  all  the 
more  noticeable  in  vieW  of  its  obvious  ability 
to  do  much  to  meet  the  need,  as  demonstrated 
by  its  remarkably  successful  recruiting  work  for 
foreign  missions. 


98       FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

If  asked  to  state,  in  the  order  of  their  power 
or  influence,  the  causes  which  deter  able  young 
men  from  entering  the  ministry,  I  would  in- 
dicate that  the  last,  namely,  the  lack  of  proper 
effort  to  lead  men  into  the  ministry,  is  the  prin- 
cipal cause.  Next  to  that  should  be  placed  the 
secular  or  utilitarian  spirit  of  the  age.  Third 
in  order  of  potency  is  the  attraction  of  the  so- 
called  secular  pursuits  together  with  the  oppor- 
tunities for  service  offered  the  Christian  layman 
in  such  pursuits.  Next  in  order  of  impor- 
tance is  probably  the  fact,  to  which  attention 
has  been  called,  that  the  preparatory  studies  of 
boys  are  automatically  diverting  them  from  the 
ministry.  After  stating  this  much,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  assign  an  order  to  the  other  factors  with 
any  degree  of  satisfaction. 

The  leaders  of  the  Christian  Church,  both 
clerical  and  lay,  should  face  these  difficulties 
squarely  and  courageously,  with  the  determina- 
tion to  overcome  or  counteract  them.  There  is 
nothing  to  be  gained  by  ignoring  their  existence, 
by  underrating  their  number  and  gravity,  or  by 
failing  to  grapple  with  them.  In  view  of  the 
fact  that  the  Church  is  a  divine  institution  and 
must,   therefore,   have   able   leaders,   there   are. 


THE  OBSTACLES  99 

beyond  question,  ways  to  overcome  and  counter- 
act all  the  difficulties  which  stand  in  the  way  of 
securing  such  leaders.  The  adverse  factors  and 
influences  in  the  way  of  getting  able  young  men 
to  devote  themselves  to  the  Christian  ministry 
are  not  without  their  advantages.  The  very 
difficulties  in  the  situation  have  been  and  will 
continue  to  be  our  safeguard.  They  help  to  sift 
out  undesirable  men;  they  need  not  deter  the 
ablest.  It  is  well  to  keep  out  of  the  ministry 
men  of  weak  purpose  and  those  who  do  not 
recognize  the  rights  and  resources  of  Jesus 
Christ.^  There  is  much  wisdom  in  the  counsel 
given  by  some  Church  leaders  to  young  men 
not  to  enter  the  ministry  if  they  can  help  it; 
that  is,  not  unless  they  have  such  an  irresistible 
impulse  or  drawing  in  that  direction  that  no 
difficulties  can  stop  them.  These  difficulties 
exercise,  discipline,  and  strengthen  men.  Ob- 
stacles have  always  been  God's  challenge  to 
faith  and  character.  In  this  ease-seeking  age 
there  is  little  danger  of  giving  young  men  too 
much  to  overcome. 


*  Report  of  Committee  on  Supply  and  Training  of  Clergy 
in  "Conference  of  Bishops  of  the  Anglican  Commission"  (held 
at  Lambeth  Palace,  1908),  p.  82. 


lOO  FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

Our  gravest  difficulties  bring  about  desirable 
reforms  and  force  us  to  discover  new  and  better 
paths  along  which  to  proceed.  In  Japan,  for 
example,  the  development  and  assertion  of  the 
very  intense  national  spirit  among  the  Japanese, 
which  was  at  first  deplored  by  some  of  the  Chris- 
tian leaders  and  which  was  a  cause  of  difficulty 
to  them,  proved  to  be  God's  means  of  promot- 
ing higher  Christian  federation  and  unity,  which 
in  turn  have  greatly  strengthened  the  position 
of  Christianity  in  that  country.  Difficulties  in- 
volve conflicts  and  make  possible  triumphs,  and 
this  appeals  to  strong  men.  There  are  perils, 
unsupplied  needs,  baffling  difficulties,  but  this 
means  that  there  are  engrossing  conflicts,  in- 
exhaustible resources,  and  inspiring  victories. 

When  our  difficulties  and  problems  are  suffi- 
ciently grave  they  drive  us  to  God  and  make 
possible  a  larger  manifestation  of  superhuman 
wisdom  and  power.  It  is  well  for  us  to  be 
reminded  again  and  again  by  the  force  of  cir- 
cumstances that  the  securing  of  laborers  is  pre- 
eminently a  work  requiring  divine  cooperation. 
Were  this  problem  not  too  hard  for  assemblies, 
conferences,  and  councils;  for  committees,  com- 
missions, and  deputations ;  for  ministers,  profess- 


THE   OBSTACLES  lOI 

ors,  and  secretaries;  for  parents  and  for  sons; 
the  Church  would  not  depend  so  largely  upon 
God  and,  therefore,  would  not  have  so  many 
God-sent  men.  Our  very  difficulties  thus  make 
it  more  likely  that  God's  call  will  reach  men  and 
furnish  a  succession  of  Christian  ministers  pos- 
sessing the  peculiar  power  which  comes  from 
being  God-sent  and  God-sustained.  So,  even  if 
our  difficulties  were  tenfold  greater,  we  should 
have  no  reason  for  pessimism  or  retreat.  They 
would  constitute  all  the  louder  summons  to 
young  men  of  power  to  give  heed  to  the  call 
of  Christ,  and  to  the  leaders  of  the  Church  to 
exercise  their  powers  and  to  employ  their 
prayers  to  discover  and  follow  His  way  to  over- 
come and  counteract  the  difficulties. 


THE 
FAVORING   INFLUENCES 


IV 

THE    FAVORING   INFLUENCES 

One  of  the  most  potent  indirect  influences 
leading  men  into  the  ministry  is  the  object  les- 
son of  ministers  who  by  their  lives,  by  their 
constant  sense  of  vocation,  and  by  the  broad  and 
inspiring  view  they  take  of  their  work,  com- 
mend the  ministry  to  young  men  of  discernment 
and  sympathy.  Such  men  actually  incarnate  the 
ministry  and  make  it  intelligible  and  attractive. 
It  is  this  personal  interpretation  which  enlarges 
the  conception  of  young  men  as  to  what  this 
calling  is  and  ought  to  be.  Wherever  Maltbie 
Babcock  went,  he  attracted  young  men  to  the 
calling  which  he  represented.  The  father  of  Dr. 
F.  B.  Meyer  took  him  every  Sunday  morning 
a  considerable  distance  from  his  home  to 
Bloomsbury  Chapel  that  he  might  come  under 
the  influence  of  the  powerful  preaching  and  ex- 
ample of  Dr.  Brock.  Dr.  Meyer  has  said  that 
105 


io6    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

if  his  father  had  attended  a  less  inspiring  place 
of  worship,  he  doubts  whether  he  would  ever 
have  entered  the  ministry. 

The  minister  should  magnify  his  calling.  He 
should  do  this,  not  by  boasting  about  it,  but  by 
actually  believing  so  deeply  in  its  greatness,  its 
sacredness,  and  its  supremacy  that  his  belief 
becomes  contagious.  Ministers  have  been  heard 
to  complain  before  their  children  or  before  other 
young  people  of  some  of  the  hardships  and 
disadvantages  of  the  ministry.  Or  they  have 
allowed,  without  protest,  belittling  comment  to 
be  made  about  Christian  truth,  the  Christian 
Church,  or  Christian  men.  Charles  Kingsley 
would  permit  no  parochial  gossip  at  his  table. 
There  is  too  much  of  it  in  these  days,  and  its 
influence,  especially  on  the  young,  is  always  un- 
favorable. Because  of  the  public  nature  of  his 
work,  the  minister's  own  obvious  conception  of 
his  calling  has  a  much  greater  influence  than 
would  otherwise  be  the  case.  One  reason  why 
the  number  of  strong  men  offering  themselves 
for  foreign  mission  service  is  ever  increasing, 
is  because  missionaries  almost  invariably  give 
the  impression  that  theirs  is  the  most  important 
and  heroic  of  all  callings  and  that  they  glory 


THE   FAVORING   INFLUENCES  107 

and  rejoice  in  it.  What  missionary  ever  seems 
to  be  pessimistic?  Professor  Austin  Phelps 
thus  speaks  of  the  impression  made  upon  him 
by  his  father :  "  He  honestly  believed  that  the 
pastoral  office  has  no  superior.  ...  To  be  a 
preacher  of  the  Gospel  was  a  loftier  honor 
than  to  be  a  prince  of  the  blood-royal.  So  per- 
vasive was  this  conviction  in  the  atmosphere  of 
his  household,  that  I  distinctly  remember  my  re- 
solve, before  I  was  four  years  old,  that  I  would 
become  a  minister;  not  so  much  because  the 
ministry  was  my  father's  guild  as  because  he  had 
taught  me  nothing  above  that  to  which  ambition 
could  aspire."  ^ 

We  do  not  have  among  ministers  enough  of 
the  feeling  of  the  glory  of  this  work  which 
Phillips  Brooks  emphasized  in  his  Yale  lectures 
on  preaching.2  He  himself  always  gave  the  im- 
pression that  he  felt  the  glory  of  his  calling. 
Dr.  Charles  E.  Jefferson  was  studying  law  in 
Boston,  but  when  he  heard  Brooks  preach  he 
decided  to  devote  himself  to  the  Christian  min- 
istry. Professor  Henry  S.  Nash  bears  testimony 
that  the  largest  number  of  students  attended  the 

»"My  Portfolio,"  p.  4. 

*  "Lectures  on  Preaching,"  p.  4. 


io8    FUTURE  LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

Theological  School  at  Cambridge  when  Brooks 
was  at  the  height  of  his  power.  He  was  in 
close  touch  with  the  students  both  in  the  schools 
and  colleges,  and  the  streams  which  he  started 
toward  the  theological  seminary  continued  to 
flow  even  after  his  death. 

What  is  it  about  a  minister  which  makes  his 
example  and  spirit  contagious  in  the  sense  of 
inclining  young  men  toward  the  ministry  as  a 
life-work?  First  and  foremost,  it  is  his  reality. 
"  He  and  his  sermons  are  one  "  they  were  wont 
to  say  of  John  Tauler.^  This  genuineness  in- 
variably impresses  young  men.  It  is  vain  for 
ministers  to  make  direct  and  public  appeals  to 
young  men  to  enter  the  ministry,  if  their  daily 
life  and  influence  do  not  attract  to  their  calling. 
They  are  also  appealed  to  by  self-forgetting  de- 
votion to  meet  the  needs  of  men.  A  minister 
who  loses  himself  in  unselfish  desire  to  serve 
his  fellows  stimulates  in  young  men  the  spirit 
of  service.  Aggressive  courage  always  appeals 
to  strong  personalities.  The  minister  who  is 
absolutely  fearless  in  exposing  sham,  denoun- 
cing wrong,  and  fighting  sin  will  attract  the 
best  young  men.     By  his  open-mindedness  and 

^  R.  A.  Vaughan,  "Hours  with  the  Mystics,"  I,  p.  193. 


THE   FAVORING   INFLUENCES  lOQ 

breadth  the  minister  will  commend  his  calling  to 
the  more  thoughtful.  Dr.  Alexander  Whyte  of 
Edinburgh  said  recently  that  one  of  the  ablest 
ministers  of  Scotland  stated  that  what  led  him 
to  enter  the  ministry  was  the  variety  and  range 
of  the  interests,  both  intellectual  and  spiritual, 
of  his  minister,  and  his  sympathy  with  all  that 
was  best  in  his  time.  Genuine  spirituality  has 
ever  exerted  a  deep  influence  on  men.  If  the 
fire  of  Christ's  love  burns  within  the  soul  it  will 
kindle  like  passion  in  others.  An  intensely 
spiritual  ministry  produces  an  abundant  min- 
istry. One  of  the  best  tests  of  the  strength  of 
this  silent,  mighty,  indirect  influence  is  the  ef- 
fect of  the  example  and  spirit  of  the  minister 
on  his  own  sons.  Two  of  Spurgeon's  sons  en- 
tered the  ministry.  A  few  years  ago,  one  half 
of  the  students  of  Mansfield  College,  Oxford, 
were  sons  of  ministers. 

The  maintenance  of  a  genuinely  Christian 
atmosphere  and  spirit  in  the  colleges  and  univer- 
sities exerts  an  indirect  influence  favorable  to 
the  formation  and  fostering  of  the  purpose  to 
devote  one's  life  to  the  ministry.  The  activi- 
ties of  the  Christian  Student  Movement  and 
the  positive   efforts   of   Christian  teachers  and 


no    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

professors  will  later  be  emphasized  as  strong 
direct  influences;  here,  however,  attention  is 
called  to  the  indirect  influence  of  a  pronouncedly 
Christian  atmosphere  pervading  institutions  of 
higher  learning.  This  is  desirable  and  neces- 
sary in  order  to  preserve  and  strengthen  the 
purpose  to  enter  the  ministry  formed  by  young 
men  in  homes  and  churches  before  going  away 
to  college,  and  also  to  afford  conditions  favor- 
able to  formation  of  a  like  purpose  by  other 
Christian  students  who  may  not  have  fully 
faced  the  question  before  entering  college. 
An  atmosphere  of  indifference  and  unbelief  is 
not  conducive  to  a  spirit  of  consecration  to 
the  sacred  ministry.  College  life  is  the  pe- 
riod in  which  many  young  men  revise,  re- 
adjust, and  restate  their  religious  position. 
During  this  critical  time  they  need  wise  guid- 
ance and  a  sympathetic  environment.  More- 
over, with  the  growth  in  intellectual  life  which 
the  college  brings  there  should  be  correspond- 
ing growth  in  the  religious  life ;  and  if  this  is  to 
be  attained,  the  student  must  be  exposed  to  the 
agencies  of  religious  influence,  to  strong  Chris- 
tian personalities  and  to  a  genuinely  spiritual 
atmosphere. 


THE   FAVORING   INFLUENCES  m 

The  denominational  colleges  of  the  country 
have  yielded  by  far  the  largest  number  and 
proportion  of  candidates  for  the  ministry.  Dis- 
tinctively denominational  and  state  institutions 
alone  are  considered  in  this  section,  reference 
being  omitted  to  that  important  group  of  Chris- 
tian colleges  and  universities  which  are  not  under 
denominational  control.  One  investigation  made 
a  few  years  ago  revealed  the  fact  that  in  the 
eleven  leading  theological  seminaries  of  the 
United  States,  representing  six  denominations, 
ninety-six  students  came  from  state  institutions 
and  1,077  from  denominational  colleges.  An- 
other very  recent  investigation  showed  that  of 
1,821  college  graduates  in  leading  theological 
seminaries,  114  came  from  state  institutions  and 
1,707  from  denominational  colleges.  The  presi- 
dent of  Davidson  College  has  indicated  that  two 
years  ago  in  ten  typical  state  universities  only 
four  young  men  out  of  every  thousand  male  stu- 
dents were  looking  toward  entering  the  ministry; 
whereas,  in  eight  eastern  Presbyterian  col- 
leges eighty-three  out  of  every  thousand  were  ex- 
pecting to  be  ministers,  and  in  fourteen  Presby- 
terian colleges  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  196 
out  of  every  thousand  were  expecting  to  enter 


112    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

this  calling.     Other  studies  showing  similar  pro- 
portions might  be  added. 

Making  due  allowance  for  the  larger  propor- 
tion of  Christian  young  men  in  denominational 
colleges,  and  for  the  fact  that  more  young  men 
already  thinking  of  entering  the  ministry  go  to 
denominational  colleges  than  to  state  institutions, 
it  remains  true  that  the  proportion  of  students 
in  denominational  colleges  deciding  to  enter  the 
ministry  is  greater  than  in  state  institutions. 
This  has  always  been  the  case.  Some  of  these 
denominational  colleges  have  a  wonderful  record. 
During  the  first  century  of  its  history  more  than 
one  third  of  the  over  1,500  graduates  of  Middle- 
bury  College,  Vermont,  became  ministers.  Of 
1,087  graduates  in  arts  of  Victoria  University, 
Toronto,  up  to  the  present  year  370,  or  one 
third,  had  entered  the  ministry  in  Canada  and 
the  United  States.  Hanover  College  in  the  Ohio 
Valley  had,  prior  to  the  year  1895,  sent  into  the 
ministry  300  of  its  800  graduates.  Over  one 
half  of  the  graduates  of  Park  College,  Missouri, 
have  devoted  themselves  to  the  ministry.  Sixty- 
three  per  cent  of  the  alumni  of  Hope  College, 
Michigan,  have  become  ministers.  And  in  Da- 
vidson College,  North  CaroHna,  last  year  (1907) 


THE   FAVORING   INFLUENCES  113 

seventy-five  out  of  a  total  of  308  men  students 
were  planning  to  devote  themselves  to  the  min- 
isterial work  of  the  Church.  These  are  by  no 
means  isolated  cases. 

The  Church  must  not  permit  the  colleges,  from 
which  she  has  so  largely  drawn  her  ministry,  to 
drift  into  inferiority.  The  Christian  aim  and 
character  of  these  colleges  must  be  preserved. 
The  arguments  in  favor  of  the  Christian  college 
set  forth  years  ago  with  masterly  force  by  Presi- 
dent Porter  of  Yale  are  still  valid.^  The  edu- 
cational standards  of  these  colleges  must  be  kept 
as  high  as  those  of  any  other  institutions.  Their 
professors,  therefore,  must  rank  in  scholarship 
and  ability  with  those  of  state  universities.  To 
this  end  denominational  colleges  must  be  much 
more  generously  supported.  It  would  be  better 
to  have  fewer  denominational  colleges  and  have 
them  adequately  maintained,  than  to  have  so 
many  that  some  of  them  must  be  indifferently 
led  and  supported.  It  would  be  better  also  not 
to  let  the  denominational  colleges  become  so 
large  as  to  make  it  impossible  for  the  professors 
to  promote  through  personal  relations  the  relig- 
ious  life   of   students,   which   is   so   essential   if 

»  "Fifteen  Years  in  the  Chapel  of  Yale  College,"  p.  382. 


114    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

these  colleges  are  to  be  real  schools  of  the 
prophets.  The  denominational  college  which  is 
dominated  by  Christian  aims,  and  pervaded  by  a 
strong  Christian  spirit,  preserving  an  atmos- 
phere of  true  liberty,  free  from  a  narrow  and 
sectarian  spirit,  and  maintaining  a  staff  of  in- 
structors who  rank  with  those  of  other  institu- 
tions, has  a  place  which  is  not  only  secure,  but 
of  growing  importance.  Such  colleges  will  al- 
ways be  a  principal  source  of  supply  for  the 
Christian  ministry. 

The  state  and  other  undenominational  colleges 
and  universities,  while  they  have  not  been  yield- 
ing so  large  numbers  of  young  men  for  the  min- 
istry as  the  denominational  colleges,  give  prom- 
ise of  becoming  increasingly  fruitful.  Generally 
speaking,  these  are  the  largest,  most  representa- 
tive, best  equipped,  and  strongest  universities  of 
the  country.  They  will  continue  to  grow  in 
size,  power,  and  influence.  Some  of  them  have 
already  more  Christian  students  than  have  all  the 
denominational  colleges  of  their  respective  states. 
Some  of  them  are  pervaded  by  a  Christian  spirit 
as  helpful  and  healthful  as  that  which  character- 
izes many  of  the  denominational  colleges.  That 
their  atmosphere  is  not  generally  unfavorable  to 


THE   FAVORING   INFLUENCES  115 

the  development  of  a  religious  life  which  is  ethi- 
cal, altruistic,  and  aggressive  is  seen  in  the  fact 
that  some  of  the  strongest  Christian  Associations 
are  to-day  to  be  found  in  these  large  undenomi- 
national universities.  That  they  may  increas- 
ingly be  made  recruiting  grounds  for  the  Chris- 
tian ministry  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions has  had  some  of  its  largest  and  ablest  ac- 
cessions from  the  state  universities.  The  same 
is  true  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion secretaryship.  Owing  to  the  size  of  these 
institutions,  they  naturally  contain  many  Chris- 
tian young  men  of  large  ability.  Those  in  such 
institutions  who  do  decide  to  enter  the  ministry 
will,  because  of  their  association  with  young  men 
of  all  social  classes,  of  all  callings,  of  all  Chris- 
tian denominations,  as  well  as  with  those  having 
no  religious  affiliation,  bring  to  their  life-work  a 
comprehensive  touch  with  life  and  a  range  of 
sympathy  which  will  augment  their  influence. 

The  leaders  of  the  Christian  denominations 
should  be  profoundly  interested  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  religious  life  of  the  undenomina- 
tional institutions,  particularly  the  state  uni- 
versities.    It  is  often  the  case,  as  has  been  im- 


\ 


Ii6    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

plied,  that  the  state  university  has  in  it  more 
Christian  students  of  a  given  denomination  than 
there  are  in  the  colleges  of  that  denomination 
in  the  same  state.  While  the  Christian  churches 
should  maintain  in  full  strength  and  at  all  costs 
a  sufficient  number  of  denominational  colleges, 
they  must  not  overlook  their  duty  to  their  own 
young  men  in  the  state  institutions.  There  are 
different  ways  in  which  the  Church  can  co- 
operate in  developing  and  fostering  a  strong 
Christian  life  in  the  undenominational  universi- 
ties. A  study  of  this  problem,  extending  over 
the  entire  continent  for  a  period  of  twenty 
years,  has  convinced  me  that  the  two  methods 
which  are  by  far  the  most  practical  and  most 
fruitful,  as  well  as  the  most  economical,  are 
the  facilitating  in  every  way  of  the  work  of  the 
Student  Christian  Association  Movement;  and 
the  strengthening  of  the  regular  churches  in  the 
university  community.  If  the  leading  denomi- 
nations would  take  hold  of  this  matter  on  a 
national  scale  and  provide  ways  and  means 
for  locating  and  generously  maintaining  min- 
isters of  recognized  ability,  in  connection  with 
the  regular  community  churches,  at  all  of  these 
leading  university  seats,  to  reach  and  influence 


THE  FAVORING   INFLUENCES  I17 

the  strongest  students,  it  would  prove  to  be  one 
of  the  most  statesmanlike  and  helpful  policies 
ever  carried  out  by  the  Christian  Church. 

Enlisting  young  men  in  Christian,  philan- 
thropic, and  social  betterment  work  has  always 
proved  to  be  a  potent  indirect  means  of  in- 
fluencing them  to  devote  their  lives  to  Christian 
service.     The  Chaplain  of  Balliol  College,  Ox-  \ 

ford,  told  me  that  in  his  opinion  the  most 
powerful  force  attracting  men  into  the  ministry 
in  recent  years  had  been  the  experience  of  work 
in  the  slums,  gained  either  in  school  missions 
or  in  university  settlements.  While  the  present 
Bishop  of  London  vvas  head  of  Oxford  House 
in  the  East  End  of  London,  many  an  Oxford 
man  was  influenced  in  this  way  to  take  Holy 
Orders.  The  sight  of  the  deep  need  of  slum 
life,  the  practical  character  and  success  of  the 
work  accomplished,  and  the  high  ideal  of  min- 
isterial life  displayed  by  the  men  in  it,  con- 
stituted the  most  potent  persuasion  to  young 
men  to  devote  their  lives  to  Christian  service. 
Who  can  measure  the  eflfectiveness  in  recruit- 
ing the  permanent  Christian  ministry  of  Can- 
ada, of  the  Christian  work  of  Canadian  students 
during  their  vacations  in  the  West,  both  in  con- 


Il8  FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

firming  those  who  had  already  decided  to  enter 
the  ministry  and  in  attracting  their  fellow- 
students  to  this  calling.  The  activities  and 
spirit  of  churches  like  the  Spring  Street  Presby- 
terian Church  and  the  Church  of  the  Sea  and 
Land  in  New  York  City,  and  many  others  in 
different  American  cities,  have  turned  not  a  few 
college  men  into  the  ministry  by  giving  them 
a  taste  of  the  possibilities  of  unselfish  service 
for  people  in  real  need. 

The  great  volume  of  altruistic  service  which  is 
being  carried  on  by  thousands  of  undergraduates 
in  the  form  of  Sunday  schools  and  evangelistic 
meetings  in  neighboring  country  districts  and  in 
the  form  of  settlements,  boys'  clubs,  and  special 
missions  in  cities  and  towns,  has  often  afforded 
the  conditions  necessary  to  enable  men  to  hear 
the  call  of  Christ  to  a  life  of  service.  The  grow- 
ing sympathy  shown  by  the  Church  toward  so- 
cial work  of  all  kinds  is  sure  to  result  in  more 
young  men  offering  themselves  for  the  ministry. 
Let  everything  possible  be  done,  therefore,  to 
enlist  young  men  of  real  ability  in  the  various 
practical  forms  of  Christian  work  and  Christian 
social  service.  This  will  give  them  a  vivid 
knowledge  and  a  moving  sense  of  the  deepest 


THE   FAVORING   INFLUENCES  1 19 

needs  of  men.  It  will  afford  them  present  day 
evidences  of  the  reality,  power,  and  authority  of 
Christianity,  and  clear  up  many  of  their  gravest 
intellectual  difficulties  and  doubts.  It  will  im- 
press them  with  the  fact  that  the  Christian 
Church  is  indispensable  in  the  solution  of  the 
social  problems.  This  in  turn  will  convince 
them  of  the  need  of  able  leadership  for  the 
forces  of  righteousness.  The  necessary  experi- 
ence for  testing  their  own  qualifications  will 
here  be  afforded  them.  In  many  cases  there 
will  be  generated  a  passion  for  helpfulness  which 
will  result  in  some  of  them  hearing  and  re- 
sponding to  the  call  to  give  their  lives  to  Chris- 
tian service.  "  Rabbi  "  John  Duncan  of  Edin- 
burgh, when  a  man  said  to  him  that  he  wanted 
to  get  nearer  Christ,  replied,  '*  Yonder  He  is, 
seeking  the  lost.  Go  there  and  you  will  find 
Him." 

All  through  the  history  of  the  Christian 
Church  genuine  religious  revivals  or  spiritual 
awakenings  have  influenced  young  men  to  de- 
vote their  lives  to  the  Christian  ministry.^     By 

» David  H.  D.  Wilkinson,  "The  Church's  Ministry;  Voca- 
tion and  Recruiting,"  in  "Pan-Anglican  Papers"  (being 
problems  for  consideration  at  the  Pan-Anglican  Congress  in 
1908). 


I20  FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

religious  revival  or  spiritual  awakening  is  meant 
not  only  such  a  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  as 
promotes  a  more  abounding  spiritual  life  among 
men  who  are  true  disciples  of  Christ,  but  also 
and  especially  such  a  work  as  influences  other 
men  to  accept  and  confess  Jesus  Christ  as  their 
Saviour  and  Lord.  A  state  of  spiritual  life 
which  manifests  itself  in  a  constant  Christward 
movement  should  be  the  normal  condition  of 
the  life  of  any  Christian  community.  This  was 
true  of  the  early  Christians  in  those  days  when 
there  were  added  to  th/sir  number  "  day  by  day 
those  that  were  being  saved." 

No  abnormal,  unscriptural  experience  is  meant, 
but  simply  that  which  has  characterized  the  best 
life  of  Christian  communities  of  all  lands  and 
of  all  ages  since  the  Resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ.  This  is  far  removed  from  those  so- 
called  revivals  which  are  characterized  by  ex- 
citement and  outbreaks  of  fanaticism  traceable 
to  indiscreet  leaders,  unwise  methods,  and  hu- 
man energy.  The  real  spiritual  awakening  has 
its  justification  in  the  practice  and  teachings  of 
Christ  and  the  early  Christian  Church.  Re- 
vivals in  the  sense  defined,  are  Scriptural, 
rational,  essential,  and  practicable.    Such  awak- 


THE   FAVORING   INFLUENCES  1 21 

enings  have  been  an  outstanding  fact  in  all  the 
history  of  the  Christian  religion.  An  important 
indirect  result  has  always  been  to  influence 
young  men  to  dedicate  their  lives  to  the  Chris- 
tian ministry  and  other  forms  of  Christian  work. 
In  the  pathway  of  the  wonderful  revivals  ac- 
companying Whitefield's  preaching  there  was  an 
unbroken  line  of  men  entering  the  ministry. 
Many  of  these  were  very  strong  characters.  At 
one  time,  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston,  there  were  as 
many  as  twenty  ministers  who  owned  him  as 
their  spiritual  father.  Similar  results  followed 
the  revivals  associated  with  Finney's  name.  Even 
the  reading  of  his  revival  lectures  influenced 
many  to  become  ministers.  After  one  of  his 
meetings  in  Great  Britain,  three  different  minis- 
ters came  forward  to  introduce  themselves  to 
him,  stating  that  they  had  thus  been  led  to  enter 
the  ministry.  At  a  conference  on  the  ministry, 
in  Glasgow,  Professor  George  Adam  Smith  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  first  great  revival 
under  the  leadership  of  Moody  in  the  early  sev- 
enties brought  many  strong  men  into  the  min- 
istry. It  was  this  mighty  spiritual  movement 
which  made  Henry  Drummond  an  evangelist  and 
turned  thousands  of  laymen  into  the  service  of 


122    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

Christ.  The  Glengarry  Revival  in  the  early  six- 
ties, celebrated  in  Ralph  Connor's  "  The  Man 
from  Glengarry,"  gave  Canada  a  large  number 
of  ministers. 

College  revivals  have  been  particularly  fruit- 
ful in  recruiting  the  ranks  of  the  ministry.  In 
the  period  1813  to  1837,  inclusive,  there  were  at 
Yale  thirteen  marked  revivals,  each  of  which 
turned  promising  young  men  into  the  ministry.^ 
It  has  been  estimated  that  the  subsequent  work 
of  the  students  influenced  in  one  of  these  awak- 
enings under  the  preaching  of  President  Timothy 
Dwight  resulted  in  the  professed  conversion  of 
over  50,000  people.  A  revival  at  Yale  in  the 
early  thirties  carried  Horace  Bushnell  out  of 
his  doubts  and  into  the  ministry.  It  is  an  inter- 
esting fact  that  the  influence  of  the  revival  at 
Williams  College  in  1806  afforded  the  conditions 
which  made  possible  the  Haystack  Prayer  Meet- 
ing and  the  modern  North  American  missionary 
movement.^  Of  thirteen  students  converted  at 
that  time,  nine  entered  the  ministry  or  became 
missionaries,  among  their  number  being  Gordon 
Hall.    Finney  conducted  evangelistic  meetings  in 

» W.  S.  Tyler,  "Prayer  for  Colleges,"  p.  132. 
2T.  C.  Richards,  "Samuel  J.  MiUs,"  p.  29. 


THE   FAVORING   INFLUENCES  1 23 

one  institution  in  Rochester  in  connection  with 
which  a  large  number  of  young  men  were  con- 
verted, of  whom  over  forty  later  became  min- 
isters. Among  the  most  notable  student  revi- 
vals in  America  was  the  one  in  Princeton  in 
1876.  About  one  hundred  undergraduates 
were  led  into  the  Christian  life  at  that  time, 
and  of  their  number  several  became  ministers. 
This  awakening  had  much  to  do  with  the  cre- 
ation of  the  Christian  Student  Movement  of 
North  America  which  in  turn  has  influenced 
thousands  of  young  men  to  become  ministers  and 
missionaries.  Multitudes  of  other  illustrations 
could  be  given.  It  is  important  to  add  that  in  the 
history  of  American  colleges  there  has  never 
been  a  period  characterized  by  mightier  spiritual 
awakenings,  both  in  Christian  and  state  institu- 
tions, than  the  past  decade.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  certain  other  countries  both  in  the  Occi- 
dent and  in  the  Orient,  These  movements  of  the 
Divine  Spirit  have  been  preparing  the  way  for  a 
larger  offering  of  lives  to  the  work  of  Christ  in 
the  world. 

Two  classes  of  young  men  are  influenced  by 
revivals  to  enter  the  ministry.  Some  of  the 
converts  are  thus  influenced.    Professor  Graham 


124  FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

Taylor  made  an  investigation  which  showed  that 
eighty-five  of  the  354  men  who  entered  the  Chi- 
cago Theological  Seminary  in  the  decade  ending 
in  1904  formed  their  purpose  to  become  minis- 
ters at  the  time  of  their  conversion.  Other  stu- 
dents are  led  to  become  ministers  as  a  result 
of  participating  in  the  work  of  the  revival  or  by 
observing  its  effects. 

What  is  the  philosophy  underlying  the  fact 
that  genuine  revivals  of  religion  influence  men 
to  devote  their  lives  to  the  ministry  as  well 
as  to  other  forms  of  Christian  service?  A  re- 
vival or  spiritual  awakening,  from  the  nature 
of  the  case,  arrests  the  attention  and  fixes  it 
on  the  greatest  concerns  of  religion.  It  pro- 
motes that  seriousness  of  mind  which  is  essen- 
tial to  the  apprehension  of  spiritual  truth  and 
to  the  preparation  of  the  heart  to  respond  to 
spiritual  truth.  It  makes  very  vivid  and  com- 
manding the  great  facts  of  the  Christian  faith, 
such  as  the  awful  power  and  consequences  of 
sin,  the  love  of  God,  the  possibilities  of  the  hu- 
man soul,  the  power  of  Christ,  and  the  responsi- 
bility of  men.  The  actual,  superhuman  working 
of  Christ,  doing  for  men  what  they  could  not  do 
for  themselves  in  converting,  emancipating,  trans- 


THE   FAVORING   INFLUENCES  1 25 

forming,  and  energizing  their  lives,  affords  fresh, 
present-day  evidences  of  Christianity  and  makes 
the  Christian  faith  a  great  reahty.  All  doubt  that 
the  presence  of  God  in  human  life  may  become 
a  fact  of  experience  is  swept  aside.  One  begins 
to  have  a  realizing  sense  that  it  is  vitally  and 
urgently  necessary  that  men  dedicate  themselves 
to  Christ  as  their  personal  Saviour.  Moreover, 
the  lives  of  all  who  enter  sympathetically  into  the 
experiences  of  the  revival  are  purified.  Their 
sense  of  moral  responsibility  is  quickened  and 
deepened.  They  forget  themselves  and  are 
drawn  out  in  unselfish  thought  and  intense  effort 
to  help  others  in  the  deepest  things  of  life,  and 
thus  come  to  know  as  a  personal  experience  the 
joy  of  service  in  intimate  association  with 
Christ.  Religion  comes  to  be  regarded  as  the 
most  momentous  matter.  Men  learn  at  such 
times  to  see  life  in  true  perspective.  They  are 
in  a  position  to  estimate  values  rightly.  Prin- 
cipal Rainy,  of  Edinburgh,  not  long  before  his 
death  told  me  that  the  spiritual  quickening  he 
received  at  the  time  of  the  great  Disruption 
turned  him  from  his  plan  of  being  a  physician 
and  made  him  a  minister.  He  added :  "  It  woke 
me  up.    Religion  became  great  in  my  eyes.''    It 


126    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

is  not  strange,  when  viewed  psychologically  as 
well  as  in  the  light  of  actual  experience  of  men, 
that  a  process  like  this  results  in  influencing  men 
of  power  and  unselfish  ambition  to  yield  them- 
selves to  the  ministry  of  Jesus  Christ.  Every- 
thing which  can  be  done  to  promote  genuine  spir- 
itual awakenings  in  our  colleges  and  in  all  our 
communities  will  bear  indirectly  yet  very  power- 
fully on  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  securing 
qualified  leaders  for  the  Christian  forces. 

The  most  efficient  human  factor  in  influencing 
young  men  to  enter  the  ministry  has  been  and  in 
some  countries  still  is  the  Christian  home.  At  a 
recent  conference  of  over  300  students  from 
various  theological  seminaries,  more  than  one 
half  assigned  favorable  home  influences  as  the 
cause  which  led  them  to  devote  themselves  to 
the  ministry.  In  many  a  conference  in  North 
America,  Europe,  and  other  parts  of  the  world, 
investigation  revealed  that  as  large  or  an  even 
larger  proportion  had  been  primarily  influenced 
by  the  same  cause.  A  very  large  majority  of 
young  men  entering  the  ministry  arrive  at  their 
decision  before  the  age  of  eighteen.  Herbert 
Kelly,  Director  of  the  Society  of  the  Sacred 
Mission,  has  pointed  out  that  every  year  after 


THE   FAVORING   INFLUENCES  127 

boyhood  it  becomes  more  difficult  to  impress 
upon  young  men  the  claims  of  this  calling.^ 
The  presumption,  therefore,  is  that  the  home 
influence  is  the  predominating  factor  in  their 
decision.  Unconsciously,  in  most  cases,  the  child 
fulfils  the  desire  of  the  parent's  heart. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  book  the  biogra- 
phies of  128  ministers,  including  those  who 
would  be  regarded  as  the  one  hundred  lead- 
ing ministers  of  the  past  500  years,  were  ex- 
amined. This  study  showed  that  all  but  nine 
of  the  128  came  from  homes  which  were  pro- 
nouncedly favorable  to  the  decision  to  devote 
one's  life  to  the  Christian  ministry.  Of  400  of 
the  most  successful  and  influential  ministers  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada  answering  the 
inquiry  as  to  the  causes  leading  them  into  the 
ministry,  over  four  fifths  assigned  the  influence 
of  Christian  parents  and  of  Christian  home  life 
as  the  chief  factor  determining  their  decision. 
Bishop  McQuaid,  of  Rochester,  calls  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  Roman  Catholic  priesthood  is 
recruited    from    pious    Christian    homes. ^      The 

>  See  chapter  "On  the  Age  of  Recruiting,"  in  "England  and 
the  Church,"  p.  182. 

2  John  Talbot  Smith,  "The  Training  of  a  Priest."  See 
introductory  chapter  "  Our  American  Seminaries,"  p.  xxv. 


128    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

place  of  all  places,  therefore,  to  bring  to  bear 
influence  is  the  home.  Let  there  be  thorough 
subsoiling  in  the  homes  and  all  will  be  well. 
Young  men  will  successfully  pass  through  most 
of  the  difficulties  which  present  themselves  in 
the  universities  and  elsewhere  if  they  have  come 
from  earnest  Christian  homes  where  the  atmos- 
phere is  favorable  to  their  devoting  themselves 
to  such  a  Christlike  work. 

Most  people  can  think  of  examples  showing 
the  large  contribution  made  to  the  ministry  by 
Christian  homes.  William  Wilberforce,  who  did 
so  much  for  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  gave 
three  of  his  sons  to  Holy  Orders,  one  of  whom 
became  a  bishop.  Four  sons  went  out  from 
the  home  of  Bishop  Westcott  into  the  service 
of  Christ  in  India.  The  eight  sons  of  Dr.  Scud- 
der  became  missionaries.  Of  five  sons  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  J.  Henry  Smith,  of  Greensboro,  North 
Carolina,  three  are  prominent  ministers,  one  is 
the  president  of  a  leading  Southern  Presbyte- 
rian college  and  preaches  very  frequently,  and 
the  other  is  a  ruling  elder  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  and  a  university  professor,  himself  also 
a  frequent  lecturer  on  Bible  themes.  The  in- 
fluence of  their  home  was  the  most  powerful 


THE  FAVORING   INFLUENCES  129 

factor  in  their  choice  of  a  life-work.  During 
the  boyhood  of  these  sons  their  father  always 
had  a  colored  boy  as  a  servant.  The  first  one 
of  these  servants,  seeing  the  children  at  their 
books  every  night,  became  interested  and  eager 
to  obtain  an  education.  Dr.  Smith  arranged 
for  him  to  go  to  Lincoln  University  where  he  j 
graduated,  and  then  became  a  minister  among  j\ 
his  own  people.  The  colored  boy  who  suc- 
ceeded him  followed  precisely  the  same  course 
and  became  an  earnest  preacher  to  his  race. 
The  history  of  the  third  colored  boy  was  ex- 
actly the  same.  All  three  of  these  colored  min- 
isters have  been  faithful  and  are  a  credit  to 
their  calling.  So,  from  this  minister's  home 
went  forth  six  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  three 
white  and  three  colored.  The  family  of  Dr. 
Andrew  Murray  of  South  Africa  is  also  a  re- 
markable illustration.  Of  the  eleven  children 
who  grew  up,  five  of  the  six  sons  became  min- 
isters and  four  of  the  five  daughters  became 
ministers'  wives.  The  next  generation  already 
has  a  still  more  striking  record  in  that  ten 
grandsons  have  become  ministers  and  thirteen 
have  become  missionaries.  All  but  two  of  these 
twenty-three  grandsons  have  had  the  full  the- 


I30    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

ological  training.  The  secret  of  this  unusual 
contribution  to  the  Christian  ministry  is  the 
Christian  home. 

In  no  other  country  is  the  home  such  a  potent 
factor  for  supplying  the  ministry  as  in  Scotland. 
Christian  leaders  might  well  study  Scotch  home 
life.  What  are  some  of  the  things  which  have 
characterized  many  of  these  homes  that  have 
furnished  so  many  able  men  for  the  ministry? 
In  them  religion  was  the  chief  concern.  The 
parents  were  genuinely  religious.  The  life  was 
simple.  The  Sabbath  was  observed  strictly — 
— some  would  say  too  strictly,  but  by  their 
fruits  ye  shall  know  them.  Family  worship  was 
given  a  regular  and  very  prominent  place  both 
morning  and  evening.  Much  attention  was 
paid  to  Bible  instruction  and  memorizing.  The 
catechism  was  made  a  part  of  the  mental  fur- 
nishing of  each  child.  While  there  may  not 
have  been  many  books  in  those  homes,  there 
were  some  which  were  read  and  pondered  and 
which  have  exerted  a  tremendous  influence  on 
the  character  and  beliefs  of  the  people;  for  ex- 
ample, Boston's  "  Fourfold  State,"  Baxter's 
"  The  Saint's  Everlasting  Rest,"  Fisher's  "  The 
Marrow  of  Modern  Divinity,"  Bunyan's  "  Pil- 


THE   FAVORING   INFLUENCES  131 

grim's  Progress,"  Doddridge's  "  The  Rise  and 
Progress  of  Religion  in  the  Soul,"  Foxe's 
'*  Book  of  Martyrs,"  and  Rutherford's  *'  Trial 
and  Triumph  of  Faith."  Professor  Orr  stated 
in  one  of  our  conferences  that  he  had  found  the 
shepherds  in  the  Border  Districts  veritable 
pundits  in  Biblical  and  theological  knowledge. 
Those  homes  all  entertained  the  highest  con- 
ception or  ideal  of  the  ministry.  No  _belittling 
criticism  of  ministers  was  allowed.  The  tradi- 
tion was  and  is  strong  that  at  least  one  son 
should  enter  the  ministry.  This  was  the  deepest 
wish  of  the  mother's  heart.  We  all  remember 
the  moving  story,  "  His  Mother's  Sermon,"  in 
"  Beside  tHe~SBonnie  Briar  Bush."  Many  a 
mother  consecrated  her  son  to  the  ministry  from 
the  time  of  his  birth.  The  mother  or  father 
may  not  in  many  a  case  have  expressed  their 
wish  to  the  son,  but  he  knew  that  the  work  of 
the  Church  was  warm  in  their  hearts.  The 
Christian  homes  of  other  lands  have  much  to 
learn  and  imitate  from  those  of  Scotland.  It 
is  to  be  feared  that  in  the  intense,  hurried, 
feverish  North  American  life,  with  the  power- 
ful materialistic  influences  to  which  we  are  ex- 
posed, home  life  is  being  starved  and  dwarfed 


132     FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

spiritually  and  that  it  falls  far  short  of  this 
ideal. 

Ministers  themselves  can  do  most  to  bring 
about  the  necessary  transformation  of  the  home 
life  of  the  country.  Any  other  treatment  of  this 
problem  of  ministerial  supply  is  dealing  with 
the  fringes  of  the  subject.  Influence  must  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  Christian  parents.  Let 
there  be  systematic,  untiring  pulpit  and  house- 
to-house  work  to  raise  the  standard  of  home 
religion  by  promoting  those  habits  and  prac- 
tices which  facilitate  the  consideration  of  re- 
ligious matters  and  which  develop  real  Christian 
spirit.  Above  all  there  should  be  pressed  upon 
Christian  parents  the  rights  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
the  claims  of  His  Kingdom  with  reference  to 
their  children.  That  which  will  lend  peculiar 
intensity  and  contagious  force  to  all  that  the 
minister  may  say  in  public  and  in  private  on 
the  subject  of  the  Christian  ministry  will  be  the 
fact  that  he  consecrates  his  own  children  to  the 
work  of  Christ  as  He  may  call. 

The  sum  and  substance  of  all  that  has  been 
said  about  the  Christian  home  as  a  factor  in 
influencing  young  men  to  enter  the  ministry  is 
that  certain  conditions  are  essential  in  order  to 


THE   FAVORING   INFLUENCES  133 

enable  young  men  to  hear  the  call  of  God,  and 
that  these  conditions,  from  the  nature  of  the 
case,  can  best  be  furnished  in  that  divine  insti- 
tution— the  home.  Balfour  has  pointed  out  that 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  an  atmosphere  of  be- 
lief.^ It  is  equally  true  that  there  is  an  atmos- 
phere in  which  young  men  may  best  arrive  at 
life  decisions,  and  that  atmosphere  can  best  be 
generated  in  genuinely  Christian  homes. 

Incomparably  the  most  potent  indirect  influ- 
ence in  securing  the  right  young  men  for  the 
Christian  ministry  isjrayer^  The  sources  of 
the  Christian  ministry  are  in  the  springs  high 
up  in  the  m^ountains.  The  streams  that  turn  the 
machinery  of  the  world  rise  in  solitary  places. 
Many  a  page  has  been  covered  in  this  outline! 
treatment  of  the  problem  of  securing  an  able 
leadership  for  the  churches.  Jesus  Christ  went 
to  the  heart  of  the  subject  in  a  very  few  words. 
He  was  familiar  with  our  problem.  He  was 
profoundly  impressed  with  the  greatness  of  the 
task  before  Christians  and  with  the  paucity  of 
workers.  His  solution  of  the  problem  of  mul- 
tiplying the  number  of  workers  was  strikingly 
original  and  absolutely  unique.     He  summoned 

1  "The  Foundations  of  Belief,"  p.  218. 


134  FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

US  to  prayer.  "  Pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of 
the  harvest,  that  he  send  forth  laborers  into  His 
harvest."  ^  He  forever  silenced  skepticism  as  to 
the  importance  and  efficacy  of  this  method  by 
His  own  example  as  a  man  of  prayer.  He 
clearly  taught  that  there  is  a  necessary  connec- 
tion between  our  prayers  and  the  providing  of 
the  supply  of  workers  of  God's  own  appoint- 
ment. Here  is  a  deep  mystery,  but  the  history 
of  Christianity  shows  beyond  question  that  it  is 
also  a  deep  reality.  Men  may  have  done  all  the 
other  things  which  have  been  emphasized  in  our 
discussion,  but  if  they  have  omitted  to  pray,  the 
laborers  have  not  been  bestowed.  It  never 
ceases  to  move  one  with  wonder  and  awe  that 
the  omnipotent  and  omniscient  God  should  have 
conditioned  a  .matter  so  vital  as  the  leadership 
of  the  forces  of  "Christ's  Kingdom  upon  His  fol- 
lowers' faithfulness  or  faithlessness  in  prayer. 

We  cannot  impute  the  deficiency  of  workers 
to  neglect  on  the  part  of  Christ.  God  would 
not  fail  to  answer  the  prayer  dictated  by  Him- 
self. The  failure  lies  at  our  own  doors.  We 
have  failed  to  obey  Christ's  clear  command  and 
to  follow  His  convincing  example  as  the  great 

» Matthew  ix,  38. 


THE  FAVORING   INFLUENCES  135 

Intercessor.  Why  have  we  thus  failed?  Let 
us  face  the  matter  conscientiously  and  see.  We 
have  been  unbelieving.  Prayer  indicates  that 
we  actually  believe  that  Christ  meant  what  He 
said  when  He  summoned  us  to  pray  for  la- 
borers. We  have  been  egotistical.  Prayer  on 
our  part  would  have  shown  that  we  distrusted 
our  unaided  plans,  devices,  and  energies.  We 
have  been  selfish.  As  Professor  George  Adam  ' 
Smith  pointed  out  in  an  address  at  Yale,  prayer  I 

for  others  is  the  hardest  kind  of  work.^    It  calls  ( 

t 
for  detachment  from  self  and  that  is  always  hard. 

It  calls  for  intensity.  It  calls  for  the  expendi- 
ture of  time  and  that  is  never  easy.  We  have 
been  busy.  But  the  overwhelming  pressure 
upon  His  time  was  one  of  tfee  principal  reasons 
why  Christ  prayed.  We  have  been  ignorant.  It 
seems  inconceivable  that  we  would  have  neg- 
lected to  employ  this  mighty  agency  had  we 
been  fully  informed  and  convinced  of  the  essen- 
tial part  which  it  sustains  to  the  securing  of  the 
laborers  of  God's  choice.  We  have  been  pur- 
poseless. Some  of  us  may  have  been  con- 
vinced that  prayer  is  essential  for  the  accom- 

»  "Sunday  Evening  Talks  to  Yale  Undergraduates"  (Henry 
B.  Wright,  Editor),  p.  47. 


136    FUTURE  LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

plishment  of  our  great  end,  but  for  one  reason 
or  another  we  have  neglected  to  form  an  ef- 
fective purpose,  that  is,  a  purpose  issuing  in 
actual  performance.  We  have  been  cold  and 
formal.  Experience  shows  that  men  are  not 
led  by  arguments  and  burning  appeals  to  give 
themselves  to  prayer.  Not  until  they  come  to 
feel  a  heart  interest  in  the  object  and  are  deeply 
moved  with  a  sense  of  the  need  of  accomplish- 
ing it  do  they  give  themselves  with  reality  and 
fervency  to  prayer  on  its  behalf. 

Sermons  should  be  preached  on  prayer  for 
laborers.  The  best  books  and  pamphlets  on  the 
achieving  power  of  prayer  should  be  widely  cir- 
culated and  read.  Meetings  for  united  prayer 
should  be  multipHed.  Appeals  for  prayer  for 
students,  for  ministers,  and  for  parents  should 
be  issued  and  honored.  The  churches  should  be 
led  to  observe  the  Day  of  Prayer  for  Students, 
with  that  faithfulness  which  characterized  their 
observance  of  this  day  two  generations  ago. 
The  committee  appointed  recently  by  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  to  consider  the  question  of 
the  supply  and  training  of  candidates  for  the 
sacred  ministry,  after  discussing  various  ways 
and  means  which  should  be  employed  to  meet 


THE   FAVORING   INFLUENCES  137 

the  great  need,  properly  place  chief  emphasis  on 
intercession :  "  The  question  of  the  due  supply 
of  the  Church's  ministers  is  one  which  the  Lord 
has  revealed  to  us  as  being  bound  up  with  ear- 
nest prayer  and  intercession.  No  recommenda- 
tions of  a  Committee  and  no  efforts  of  the 
Church  will  avail  unless  there  go  with  them  the 
Church's  sustained  and  earnest  supplication.  We 
would,  therefore,  as  a  final  recommendation, 
press  for  the  more  constant  and  widespread  use 
of  the  special  prayer  for  the  supply  of  Candi- 
dates, .  .  .  and  for  the  more  devout  observance 
of  Ember-tides  for  keeping  alive  in  the  hearts 
of  the  Church  people  a  due  sense  of  concern 
and  obligation  in  this  matter."  ^ 

Above  all,  those  who  keenly  realize  the  impor- 
tance of  this  method  and  agency  should  give 
themselves  to  prayer.  Is  not  this  incomparably 
the  most  important  work?  Beyond  question, 
prayer  is  the  mightiest  force  which  any  Chris- 
tian can  wield  in  this  world.  It  is  his  richest 
talent.  Not  without  displeasing  our  Lord  and 
Master  can  we  bury  it  or  leave  it  unused.  It 
is  a  talent  possessed  by  all.    Christians  may  and 

»  "  The  Supply  and  Training  of  Candidates  for  Holy 
Orders"  (June,  1908),  p.  31. 


138    FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

do  differ  with  reference  to  other  abiHties,  but  in 
the  most  vital  matter  they  stand  on  a  level. 

Only  God  is  competent  to  select,  to  clothe, 
to  commission,  and  to  impel  the  workers  for 
His  Kingdom.  From  first  to  last  this  recruit- 
ing work  is  a  superhuman  undertaking.  The 
ground  of  our  hope  and  confidence  in  the  se- 
curing of  an  adequate  supply  of  competent 
young  men  for  the  ministry  of  Jesus  Christ  rests 
chiefly,  not  upon  the  favoring  indirect  influences 
which  have  already  been  considered,  and  not 
upon  the  various  agencies  to  be  emphasized  in 
connection  with  the  direct  propaganda,  but  upon 
that  which  will  give  direction  and  efficiency  to 
them  all,  that  which  brings  to  bear  the  irresist- 
ible forces  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Living  God. 


THE   PROPAGANDA 


V 

THE   PROPAGANDA 

The  minister,  if  he  be  of  a  type  attractive  to 
strong-  men,  can  do  more  than  anyone  else  to 
recruit  men  for  the  ministry.  At  one  time,  cer- 
tainly, Christian  parents  would  have  been  ex- 
cepted; but  in  view  of  the  fact  that  to-day  so 
many  Christian  parents  are  not  eager  to  have 
their  sons  enter  the  ministry,  it  is  clear  that 
the  minister  holds  the  key  to  the  situation,  be- 
cause he  is  in  a  position  to  do  most  to  change 
the  attitude  of  parents  on  this  subject.  This 
is  the  most  highly  multiplying  work  of  the  min- 
ister. One  does  not  underrate  the  prophetic, 
the  pastoral,  the  teaching,  and  the  organizing 
functions  of  the  ministry;  but  none  of  these 
enables  him  so  to  multiply  himself  as  does 
the  recruiting  function.  Agassiz,  when  asked 
what  he  regarded  as  his  greatest  work,  re- 
plied: "Training  two  men."  Samuel  Morley 
141 


142     FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

emphasized  aptly  the  same  idea:  "  He  who  does 
the  work,  is  not  so  productively  employed  as 
he  who  multipHes  the  doers."  ^ 

The  minister  is  under  obligation  to  exercise 
this  recruiting  function.  He  should  be  working 
not  only  for  the  present  Church,  but  also  for 
the  Church  which  is  to  be.  He  is  as  much  un- 
der obligation  to  raise  up  a  ministry  for  the  next 
generation  as  he  is  to  raise  up  a  church  mem- 
bership for  the  next  generation.  There  is 
something  wrong  if  in  a  long  pastorate  a  min- 
ister does  not  have,  as  a  result  of  his  life  and 
work,  young  men  consecrating  themselves  to 
the  Christian  ministry;  he  may  well  give  him- 
self to  self-examination  and  to  making  neces- 
sary changes  in  his  aims,  attitude,  and  practice. 
If  ministers  are  in  dead  earnest  on  this  point 
there  is  no  doubt  that  they  will  influence  able 
young  men  to  dedicate  themselves  to  this 
greatest  of  callings.  Professor  Henry  Calder- 
wood  was  right  when,  in  speaking  at  the  Sec- 
ond General  Council  of  the  Presbyterian  Alli- 
ance, held  in  Philadelphia  in  1880,  he  insisted 
that  "  There  is  one  key  to  the  supply  of  stu- 

»  Quoted  by  James  Wells,  "The  Life  of  James  Hood 
Wilson,"  p.  87. 


THE   PROPAGANDA  1 43 

dents  to  the  ministry,  and  that  is  the  ministry 
itself."  ^ 

What  means  shall  the  minister  employ  in  his 
efforts  to  secure  men  for  this  calling?  He 
should  preach  sermons  and  make  public  appeals 
to  the  young  men  and  boys  of  his  congregation 
on  the  claims  of  the  ministry.  Many  ministers 
have  neglected  to  do  this.  At  a  recent  con- 
ference where  there  were  over  three  hundred 
theological  students,  representing  about  fifty  of 
the  theological  seminaries  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  when  the  delegates  were  asked  to 
indicate  whether  they  had  ever  heard  a  sermon 
on  the  subject  of  the  claims  of  the  ministry, 
over  one  half  of  the  number  stated  that  they 
had  never  heard  such  a  sermon.  Even  if  a  min- 
ister does  not  feel  like  making  a  direct  appeal 
to  young  men  to  become  ministers,  he  should 
at  least  place  before  them  the  opportunities  and 
claims  of  the  ministry  and  urge  them  to  strive 
to  understand  and  heed  what  God's  will  in  the 
matter  is  for  them  personally.  He  should  also 
improve  opportunities  to  speak  on  the  ministry 
in  colleges  and  schools.     Some  ministers  have 

»  "Report  of  Proceedings  of  the  Second  General  Council  of 
the  Presbyterian  Alliance,"  p.  666. 


144  FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

recognized  and  accepted  such  opportunities  and 
have  accomplished  far-reaching  resuhs.  For 
example.  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott  and  Dr.  Henry 
van  Dyke  have  rendered  very  effective  service. 
Other  ministers  whose  words  would  come  with 
special  power  to  students,  although  they  accept 
invitations  to  go  away  to  preach  on  other  sub- 
jects and  before  other  audiences,  decline  invita- 
tions of  this  kind.  When  one  recalls  the  great 
influence  exerted  by  the  four  sermons  preached 
at  Cambridge  University  a  half  a  century  ago 
by  Bishop  Selwyn  on  "  The  Work  of  Christ  in 
the  World,"  one  recognizes  the  great  possibili- 
ties of  setting  before  college  men  the  unique 
claims  of  this  calling.^ 

Of  equal  importance  is  it  that  ministers 
preach  sermons  adapted  to  influence  parents  to 
dedicate  their  children  to  lives  of  Christian 
service,  to  lead  them  to  pray  that  their  children 
may  be  set  apart  by  God  to  such  service,  and 
to  help  them  to  make  the  spiritual  conditions 
in  their  homes  favorable  to  the  formation  and 
fostering  of  this  kind  of  a  life  purpose.  In  times 
of  spiritual  awakening  or  of  great  responsive- 

»  G.  H.  Curteis,  "Bishop  Selwyn  of  New  Zealand,  and  of 
Lichfield,"  pp.  146-153. 


THE   PROPAGANDA  145 

ness  in  his  church,  the  minister  should  call  to- 
gether a  group  of  the  most  promising  young 
men  of  his  congregation  and  seriously  charge 
them  to  give  conscientious  consideration  to  the 
need,  opportunities,  and  claims  of  the  Christian 
ministry.  This  was  the  practice  of  Bushnell. 
There  come  times  in  the  life  of  a  church  when 
more  can  be  done  in  a  few  hours  than  can  be 
done  under  ordinary  conditions  in  many  months. 
Wise  is  the  minister  who  learns  to  discern  such 
times  and  to  press  the  advantage  which  they 
present. 

The  minister  should  constantly  employ  with 
strong  young  men  and  boys  within  the  range 
of  his  influence  the  method  of  personal  work 
with  reference  to  their  life  plans.  At  the  con- 
ference of  theological  students  to  which  refer- 
ence has  been  made,  among  the  more  than  three 
hundred  delegates  from  the  theological  sem- 
inaries of  North  America  it  was  discovered  that 
one  hundred  and  fifty  had  been  influenced  to 
enter  the  Christian  ministry  chiefly  by  the  per- 
sonal work  of  ministers.  The  minister  should 
constantly  study  the  young  men  and  boys  of 
his  congregation  and  community  and  make  at 
least  mental  note  of  those  who  seem  to  him  to 


146  FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

be  likely  candidates  for  such  a  work  as  that  of 
the  ministry,  and  should  seek  to  expose  them 
to  influences  calculated  to  make  plain  to  them 
and  to  others  whether  this  is  God's  work  for 
them.  He  should  give  time  to  them  personally. 
At  a  recent  meeting  of  ministers  a  pastor  of  a 
suburban  church  of  Chicago  mentioned  that  he 
had  a  list  of  nine  such  men  of  his  congregation 
whom  he  was  following  up.  Some  of  them  are 
away  at  college.  He  keeps  in  touch  by  letters 
and  when  they  return  home  for  their  vacations 
he  renews  his  personal  intercourse  with  them. 

It  would  be  well  for  the  minister  to  set 
apart  a  regular  time  each  week  for  interviews 
with  young  men.  Dr.  John  Clifford,  minister 
at  Westbourne  Park  Church  in  London,  has 
already  had  twenty-six  young  men  enter  the 
ministry  or  foreign  missionary  service.  The 
secret  of  his  success  he  considers  to  be  the 
fact  that  he  has  given  the  time  from  seven  to 
ten  o'clock  each  Friday  evening  to  interviews 
with  young  men.  This  has  brought  him  into 
touch  with  all  classes  and,  as  occasion  has  of- 
fered, he  has  suggested  the  ministry  as  a  pos- 
sible calling  to  those  who  have  impressed  him 
as  having  the  fundamental  qualifications. 


THE  PROPAGANDA  147 

Ministers  located  in  college  towns  should  im- 
prove the  unique  opportunity  of  cultivating  the 
friendship  of  strong  Christian  students  away 
from  home.  Some  of  the  ministers  of  Edin- 
burgh and  Glasgow  have  exerted  a  wide  in- 
fluence in  this  respect  in  their  relations  to  young 
men  from  the  colonies  studying  in  the  Scottish 
universities.  Personal  work  to  influence  boys 
and  young  men  to  go  to  college  results  in 
directing  many  of  them  into  Christian  service. 
It  is  well  to  remember  that  the  minister  him- 
self should  be  in  the  attitude  of  prayer  that 
he  may  be  divinely  guided  in  discerning  provi- 
dential indications  with  reference  to  the  fit- 
ness of  young  men  for  the  ministry,  and  also 
and  more  especially  that  God  may  make  plain 
to  the  young  men  themselves  His  will  in  the 
matter. 

The  minister  should  lay  a  burden  of  respon- 
sibility on  teachers  of  young  men's  and  boys' 
Bible  classes  in  the  Sunday  school  and  in  the 
men's  organizations  of  his  church  to  use  their 
influence  in  directing  the  serious  attention  of 
their  members  to  the  ministerial  calling.  He 
should  also  see  that  the  young  people's  society 
or   young   men's   guild   or   brotherhood   of   his 


148    FUTURE  LEADERSHIP   OF   THE   CHURCH 

church  includes  in  its  policy  the  presentation  of 
the  claims  of  the  ministry. 

The  possibilities  of  this  recruiting  work  of 
the  minister  are  boundless.  Even  in  what  some 
regard  as  unfavorable  fields  there  are  large  un- 
developed possibilities.  Dr.  W.  S.  Rainsford, 
during  the  years  he  was  at  St.  George's  in  New 
York,  influenced  over  a  score  of  young  men  to 
devote  themselves  to  the  ministry.  Dr.  James 
Hood  Wilson,  while  a  pastor  in  Edinburgh,  in- 
fluenced over  thirty  young  men  to  become  for- 
eign missionaries,  not  to  mention  those  who  en- 
tered Christian  work  on  the  home  field.  The  two 
churches  which  he  served  were  nurseries  of  min- 
isters and  missionaries.  These  two  illustrations 
refute  the  assertion  which  one  often  hears,  that 
city  churches,  especially  those  in  the  mission  dis- 
tricts, are  not  hopeful  recruiting  grounds  for 
the  ranks  of  the  ministry. 

The  country  church  parishes  have  also,  when 
cultivated,  always  yielded  most  gratifying  re- 
sults. In  a  recent  conference,  Bishop  Ander- 
son, of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  told 
of  one  country  pastor  who  in  his  lifetime  had 
led  twenty-seven  young  men  into  the  ministry. 
Professor  Robert  K.  Massie,  of  the  theological 


THE   PROPAGANDA  149 

seminary  near  Alexandria,  Virginia,  told  of  an- 
other minister  in  a  small  town  who,  to  his 
knowledge,  had  sent  seventeen  men  into  the 
ministry.  Professor  E.  A.  Mackenzie,  of  the 
Presbyterian  Theological  College  in  Montreal, 
writes  about  a  picture  he  had  seen  of  a  coun- 
try church  in  Oxford  County,  Ontario,  around 
the  border  of  which  were  thirty  small  photo- 
graphs of  men  who  had  gone  out  of  that  coun- 
try parish  into  the  Christian  ministry.  The  min- 
ister who  served  that  church  all  his  life  was  in 
the  habit  of  constantly  looking  up  young  men 
of  parts,  and  directing  their  attention  to  the  min- 
istry. He  was  literally  a  recruiting  officer  of  the 
Church.  None  of  these  examples  are  excep- 
tional cases  so  far  as  opportunity  is  concerned. 
The  point  is  that  these  men  saw  their  oppor- 
tunity and  seized  it.  "  Enlarger  of  the  Em- 
pire "  (Mehrer  des  Retches)  is  a  title  of  high- 
est honor,  which  the  Germans  give  to  only 
a  very  few  of  their  greatest  warriors  and 
statesmen.  The  Christian  minister  should  as- 
pire to  no  higher  distinction  than  that  of 
winning  by  a  long  life  of  faithful  recruiting 
work  the  right  to  the  title  of  Enlarger  of  the 
Kingdom. 


I50    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

Efforts  made  by  schoolmasters,  college  profess- 
ors, and  theological  seminary  professors  should 
be  assigned'  as  another  potent  direct  cause  con- 
straining young  men  to  enter  the  ministry.  Much 
more  should  be  done  to  impress  boys  during  their 
school  days  with  the  importance  of  the  ministry 
as  a  life-work.  The  period  of  adolescence,  say 
fourteen  to  eighteen  inclusive,  is  the  vision-form- 
ing period.  It  is  the  most  favorable  time  arid, 
therefore,  the  most  important  time  for  making 
the  deepest  impressions  of  life.  Secular  influ- 
ences are  not  deferring  their  appeal  until  this 
period  is  passed.  They  do  not  lose  the  advantage 
suggested  by  the  psychological  fact  just  stated. 
What  subject  can  be  more  fittingly  brought  be- 
fore boys  at  this  stage,  than  the  importance  of 
the  sense  of  a  vocation  in  life,  and  above  all  of 
the  special  vocation  of  working  for  Christ  in  the 
ministry  at  home  or  abroad  ?  It  may  not  be  wise 
to  urge  them  to  decide  the  question  of  their 
career  so  early,  but  it  most  certainly  is  wise  to 
bring  before  them  thus  early  the  most  unselfish 
forms  of  work  in  as  strong,  vivid,  and  attractive 
manner  as  possible.  Let  the  Christian  ministry  be 
made  as  appealing  to  boys  as  the  callings  of  ex- 
plorers, generals,  and  captains  of  industry.    The 


THE   PROPAGANDA  151 

late  Bishop  Creighton  of  London,  is  right  in  his 
contention :  "  I  am  perfectly  certain  that  the  vo- 
cation of  Holy  Orders  has  just  as  great  attrac- 
tion for  boys  as  any  other,  but  they  are  allowed 
to  grow  up  without  any  adequate  sense  that  they 
are  bound  to  serve  the  common  welfare  at  all."  ^ 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  period  of  boyhood  is 
the  one  in  which  by  far  the  greater  number  of 
ministers  have  decided  the  question  of  their  life- 
work.  Various  investigations  made  by  different 
persons  and  societies  in  different  countries  clear- 
ly establish  this  as  a  fact.  The  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  more  than  other  Christian  bodies,  appre- 
ciates the  great  importance  of  what  this  involves.^ 
One  of  their  bishops  said  to  me  that  they  make 
it  their  practice  to  secure  their  priests  from 
among  the  ranks  of  boys.  In  fact  this  is  a  mat- 
ter of  settled  policy  dating  from  the  Council  of 
Trent. 

The  wise  and  tactful  schoolmaster  can  do  more 
to  influence  schoolboys  than  possibly  anyone  else. 
In  nearly  every  school  there  is  at  least  one  master 
qualified  by  life  and  influence  with  the  boys  to 

»  The  Churchman,  Vol.  LXXXII,  p.  141. 
2  J.  Delbrel,  S.J.,  ^^ Pour  repeupler  Nos  Seminaires,^'  pp. 
17,  24,  168. 


152  FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

render   a  great  service  in  this   direction.     The 
country  schoolmasters  in  Scotland,  more  than  in 
other  lands,  have  been  on  the  lookout  for  the 
*'  lad  o'  pairts  "  whom  they  have  often  helped  to 
send  to  the  university  and  on  into  the  ministry. 
The  Rev.  J.  Bell  Henderson  stated  in  a  confer- 
ence in  Glasgov^  that  from  among  the  boys  sent 
yi  up  to  the  university  by  the  schoolmaster  of  one 
\  quiet  parish  came  three  moderators  of  the  Church 
■of  Scotland. 

The  college  professors  also  have  a  unique  op- 
portunity to  help  direct  students  into  the  w^ork  of 
the  ministry.  Although  many  young  men  have 
virtually  decided  the  question  of  their  life-work 
before  going  to  college,  there  are  still  large  num- 
bers who  have  not  done  so.  Moreover,  many  of 
the  young  men  who,  before  they  entered  college, 
may  have  decided  to  enter  the  ministry  are  likely 
to  abandon  their  purpose  unless  it  is  properly 
nurtured  and  strengthened  during  student  days. 
The  college  president  or  professor  has  unsur- 
passed influence  with  young  men  who  are  face  to 
face  with  questions  pertaining  to  their  life-work, 
because  in  the  position  of  teacher  he  is  regarded 
as  peculiarly  impartial;  and,  from  the  nature  of 
the  case,  this  is  true.    One  need  only  let  his  mind 


THE   PROPAGANDA  I53 

travel  back  to  his  own  college  days  to  realize 
how  great  is  the  influence  wielded  by  one's  favor- 
ite professor  at  that  impressionable  and  respon- 
sive period.  I  well  remember  how  Professor 
Moses  Coit  Tyler,  the  distinguished  professor  of 
American  history,  one  morning  called  me  into 
his  study  after  the  lecture  hour.  I  supposed  he 
wished  to  see  me  in  connection  with  the  piece  of 
work  I  was  doing  in  the  historical  seminar,  but 
to  my  surprise  he  presented  me  with  a  copy  of 
The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  asked  me 
the  one  question  as  to  whether  I  had  ever  seri- 
ously considered  the  possibility  of  devoting  my 
life  to  Christian  service.  That  is  all  that  he 
did  and  said,  but  it  was  one  of  the  most  result- 
ful  interviews  of  my  life. 

Influence  was  formerly  exerted  in  this  direc- 
tion by  college  presidents  and  professors  much 
more  largely  than  at  present.  It  is  said  that 
President  Stearns,  of  Amherst,  interviewed  every 
freshman  about  his  purpose  in  life,  and  sought 
to  be  helpful  to  him  at  that  critical  stage.  The 
fact  that  less  is  done  now  than  formerly  is  ex- 
plained partly  by  the  great  growth  in  the  num- 
ber of  students  in  our  colleges  and  universities, 
but  more   fully  by  the  increase   in  the   execu- 


154    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

tive  and  administrative  responsibilities  of  col- 
lege presidents  and  by  the  higher  specialization 
of  the  work  of  college  professors.  There  is 
ground  for  the  fear  that  the  old-fashioned  pro- 
fessor, in  the  good  sense  of  the  term,  is  disap- 
pearing. Too  many  modern  professors  carry 
to  an  extreme  the  university  idea  and  give  one 
the  impression  that  they  are  more  concerned 
with  developing  subjects  than  developing  men. 
In  every  college,  as  Dr.  George  A.  Gordon,  of 
Boston,  emphasized  in  a  conference  of  Church 
leaders  on  the  subject  of  securing  candidates 
for  the  ministry,  there  should  be  at  least  one 
great  teacher  who  would  inspire  students  to  be- 
come ministers.  Although  the  tendency  is  in 
the  other  direction,  it  is  gratifying  to  recall 
splendid  exceptions  here  and  there  among  col- 
lege presidents  and  professors.  One  of  the 
finest  examples  was  the  late  President  Harper 
of  the  University  of  Chicago.  Surely  no  man 
was  more  heavily  burdened  with  administrative 
and  financial  responsibility  or  more  efficient  in 
the  work  of  his  specialty  in  study;  and  yet  he 
always  found  time,  or  better,  always  made  time 
for  what  he  told  me  he  regarded  as  his  most 
important  work — that  of  making  himself  acces- 


THE   PROPAGANDA  1$$ 

sible  to  young  men  to  discuss  with  them  ques- 
tions pertaining  to  faith,  conduct,  and  life-work. 
While  he  was  a  professor  at  Yale  and  later  at 
Chicago,  and  also  while  attending  student  con- 
ferences, he  influenced  many  a  young  man  to 
enter  the  ministry  or  the  profession  of  Bible 
teaching. 

Some  of  the  best  results  of  the  influence  of 
teachers  in  schools  and  colleges  are  seen  on  the 
difficult  mission  fields.  The  three  largest  and 
strongest  bands  of  Japanese  students  who  en- 
tered the  ministry — the  Kumamoto  Band,  the 
Sapporo  Band,  and  the  Yokohama  Band — were 
influenced  by  the  earnest  Christian  teachers, 
Captain  L.  L.  Janes,  President  W.  S.  Clark,  and 
Dr.  S.  R.  Brown,  who  gave  their  time  gener- 
ously to  this  end.  They  deemed  nothing  else 
so  important.  Two  of  these  bands,  it  is  inter- 
esting to  note,  were  started  in  government  or 
non-Christian  schools.  At  Peking  University, 
in  1908  there  were  186  Chinese  students  who 
had  signed  a  covenant  to  devote  their  lives  to 
Christian  work,  more  especially  the  Christian 
ministry.  One  of  the  chief  causes,  if  not  the 
chief  one,  was  the  fact  that  some  of  the  Chris- 
tian teachers  set  apart  much  time  right  through 


156    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

the  year  for  interviews  with  the  students  about 
their  Hfe-work.  Not  a  Httle  of  this  time  was 
spent  in  actual  prayer  with  individual  students 
regarding  the  special  difficulties  in  their  path. 

Professors  in  theological  seminaries  obviously 
have  a  responsibility  not  only  to  train  ministers, 
but  also  to  help  in  enlisting  able  young  men 
for  the  ministry.  They  are  in  a  position  to 
know,  better  than  most  people,  the  need  for  men 
in  the  ministry,  the  kind  of  men  wanted,  and 
the  requirements  for  preparation.  It  is  a  matter 
to  be  deplored  that  theological  professors  do 
not  move  about  among  Christian  homes  and 
churches  as  much  as  they  did  in  former  times 
with  a  special  view  to  discovering  men  who 
apparently  might  become  able  ministers,  and 
urging  them  to  consider  carefully  and  prayer- 
fully God's  will  for  their  life-work.  One  is  not 
unmindful  of  the  criticisms  which  at  times  are 
made  with  reference  to  such  a  course,  but  the 
more  one  reflects  upon  them,  the  more  super- 
ficial they  are  seen  to  be.  The  fear  that  he  may 
be  accused  of  recruiting  students  for  a  seminary 
rather  than  ministers  for  the  Church,  should  not 
deter  the  sincere  professor  from  doing  all  in  his 
power  to  bring  vividly  before  strong  young  men 


THE  PROPAGANDA  157 

and  their  parents  the  critical  need  of  supplying 
an  able  leadership  for  the  forces  of  the  Church. 
Theological  professors  who  are  especially 
qualified  to  influence  college  students  should  de- 
vote more  time  to  visiting  colleges  and  schools 
with  reference  to  interesting  young  men  in  the 
work  of  the  ministry.  Bishop  Lawrence,  when 
a  professor  in  the  Episcopal  Theological  School 
at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  spent  much  time 
in  the  rooms  of  Harvard  students  with  this  end 
in  view.  Theological  professors  should  throw 
themselves  as  much  as  possible  into  the  general 
life  of  the  universities  near  their  seminaries, 
taking  an  interest  in  the  Student  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  in  university  athletics,  and 
in  other  phases  of  student  life.  It  would  be  well 
if  there  were  at  least  one  professor  on  the  faculty 
of  each  seminary  who  would  be  in  demand  as 
a  college  preacher.  The  valuable  work  accom- 
plished in  American  colleges  by  Professor  Hugh 
Black,  of  Union  Theological  Seminary,  is  a 
good  illustration  of  this  plan.  Experience 
shows  that  the  indirect  approach  of  coming  to 
the  college  as  a  preacher  on  other  subjects  is 
one  of  the  most  effective,  especially  when  the 
professor  makes  opportunities  for  young  men 


158    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

to  interview  him  personally  on  the  question  of 
their  life-work.  These  pastors  of  pastors,  the 
theological  professors,  should  appeal  to  the  min- 
isters to  do  more  to  help  meet  the  need  for  men. 
Let  them  write  and  speak  to  their  old  students; 
and  let  them  exhort  their  present  students  to 
exercise  earnestly  the  recruiting  function  of  the 
ministry. 

The  Christian  Student  Movement  is  becom- 
ing an  increasingly  efficient  direct  cause  in  in- 
fluencing young  men  for  the  ministry.  So  far 
as  the  young  men  of  North  American  univer- 
sities and  colleges  are  concerned,  what  is  popu- 
larly known  as  the  Christian  Student  Movement 
is  the  Student  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  It  now 
has  branches  or  Associations  in  over  700  uni- 
versities, colleges,  and  other  institutions  of 
higher  learning  and  has  a  membership  of  over 
57,000  students,  professors,  and  teachers.^  It 
is  found  in  nearly  all  of  the  colleges  of  every 
Christian  denomination.  It  is  also  established 
in  all  of  the  principal  state  and  other  undenomi- 
national institutions.  It  has  extended  to  a  large 
majority  of  the  theological  seminaries  and  theo- 

»  "The  Federation  in  1907,"  p.  9. 


THE  PROPAGANDA  1 59 

logical  colleges  of  North  America.  There  are 
only  a  few  isolated  societies  of  Christian  stu- 
dents not  yet  affiliated.  The  objects  of  this 
movement  are:  to  lead  students  to  become  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Lord  and  Saviour; 
to  lead  them  to  become  members  of  the  Church; 
to  build  them  up  in  Christian  faith  and  charac- 
ter; and  to  help  them  to  place  their  lives  where 
they  will  count  for  most  in  promoting  the  King- 
dom of  Christ.  The  last  named  object  has  for 
many  years  been  interpreted  to  include  helping 
students  to  determine  the  question  of  their  life- 
work. 

Such  a  movement  has  a  great  opportunity  to 
help  solve  the  problem  of  obtaining  more  young 
men  of  talent  and  consecration  for  the  Christian 
ministry.  It  touches,  as  has  been  shown,  nearly 
all  of  the  centers  of  learning  on  the  entire 
continent.  Its  membership  includes  a  major- 
ity of  the  Christian  students  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada.  It  has,  generally  speaking, 
the  confidence  of  the  professors  of  the  colleges 
and  the  leaders  of  the  Church,  as  a  result  of  its 
useful  work  of  over  twenty-five  years  in  advanc- 
ing the  moral  and  religious  interests  of  the  col- 
leges.    It  has  developed  agencies  and  methods 


i6o  FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

which  enable  it  to  bring  ideas  and  personaHties 
to  bear  with  effect  on  all  parts  of  the  student  field. 
It  possesses  certain  advantages  which  are  inher- 
ent in  Associations  of  this  kind.  For  example, 
its  activities  are  purely  voluntary,  being  the  ex- 
pression of  the  initiative  and  independent  action 
of  the  students.  These  Associations  have  many 
other  interests  besides  that  of  helping  to  secure 
ministerial  recruits,  and  this  enables  them  to 
draw  within  their  membership  large  numbers  of 
Christian  students  not  at  first  interested  in  the 
ministry,  but  who,  once  within  the  Associations, 
can  be  exposed  to  the  appeal  for  that  form  of 
life  service.  These  Associations  also  seek  to 
place  a  burden  of  responsibility  on  Christian 
ministerial  candidates  to  help  influence  their  fel- 
low students  to  consider  the  claims  of  the  min- 
istry. 

While  students  cannot  do  so  much  as  minis- 
ters and  professors,  their  added  help  cannot  but 
be  advantageous.  Such  Associations,  being  part 
of  the  great  movement,  possess  an  esprit  de 
corps  which  is  invaluable  in  any  propaganda. 
The  existence  of  such  a  movement  enables  the 
strong  Associations  to  bring  their  ideas,  experi- 
ence,   and    inspiration   to   bear   helpfully   upon 


THE  PROPAGANDA  l6l 

Associations  which  are  weak  or  lacking  in  in- 
terest and  results.  Being  interdenominational, 
the  movement  is  able  to  do  for  the  Church  in 
state  and  other  undenominational  institutions 
what  the  Church  cannot  so  well  do  for  itself. 

What  are  some  of  the  things  being  accom- 
plished by  these  Associations  in  the  colleges? 
The  claims  of  the  ministry  were  presented  dur- 
ing the  past  year  under  the  auspices  of  these 
Associations  in  over  two  hundred  colleges.  The 
Student  Movement  is  thus  discovering  the  min- 
isters and  professors  best  qualified  to  make  an 
effective  presentation  of  the  claims  of  the  min- 
istry, and  their  names  are  given  to  Associations 
inquiring  for  such  help.  College  preachers, 
while  at  the  college  for  their  regular  engage- 
ments, are  asked  by  the  Associations  to  cooper- 
ate. Selected  groups  of  students  are  brought 
together  so  that  prominent  visiting  ministers 
can  speak  to  them  more  informally  and  answer 
questions  on  the  subject  of  the  ministry.  These 
visitors  are  often  asked  to  give  time  for  inter- 
views with  individual  students  who  may  wish 
to  take  counsel  with  them.  In  some  large  uni- 
versities, both  denominational  and  undenomina- 
tional,   ministerial    institutes    are    held    by    the 


1 62     FUTURE  LEADERSHIP   OF  THE  CHURCH 

Associations.  These  institutes  usually  last  at 
least  two  days.  Leading  ministers  of  different 
communions  present  various  aspects  of  the 
work  of  the  ministry  and  also  speak  on  other 
subjects  germane  to  the  purpose  of  securing 
ministerial  candidates. 

Regular  home  and  foreign  missionary  meet- 
ings are  held  in  most  of  the  Associations. 
These  serve  to  acquaint  students  with  the  needs 
and  opportunities  of  the  Church  at  home  and 
abroad  and  thus  help  directly  to  interest  men 
in  the  work  of  the  ministry.  The  best  available 
literature  on  the  subject  of  the  Christian  min- 
istry is  circulated.  In  certain  institutions  min- 
isterial bands  have  been  organized;  for  instance, 
the  Jonathan  Edwards  Club  of  Yale  and  the  pre- 
ministerial  club  at  the  University  of  Chicago, 
and  the  various  bands  of  ministerial  recruits  on 
tlie  Pacific  Coast.  These  are  composed  of  stu- 
dents who  have  decided  to  enter  the  ministry  and 
those  who  are  seriously  considering  the  matter. 
They  serve  to  strengthen  the  purpose  of  those 
already  decided,  stimulate  conclusive  thinking 
on  the  part  of  others,  and  lead  ministerial  can- 
didates to  do  recruiting  work  among  their  fel- 
low  students.     The  service   rendered  by  these 


THE   PROPAGANDA  163 

bands  as  well  as  by  the  Association  itself,  in  con- 
serving the  purpose  of  students  who  enter  col- 
lege planning  to  be  ministers  but  who  in  many 
cases  without  such  helpful  influences  would 
abandon  their  life  plan,  is  of  the  greatest  value. 
The  bands  are,  as  a  rule,  organically  related 
to  the  Christian  Associations.  Their  success  de- 
pends largely  on  the  strength  of  their  per- 
sonnel, the  ability  of  their  leaders,  and  the  close- 
ness of  their  touch  with  the  varied  activities  of 
the  Association. 

The  indirect  influence  of  the  Bible  study  de- 
partment of  the  Christian  Associations  which 
has  enrolled  over  40,000  undergraduate  stu- 
dents in  the  devotional  study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, is  very  marked  in  leading  men  to  consider 
Christian  work  as  a  life-work.  The  philan- 
thropic and  social  betterment  work  carried  on 
by  the  Associations  results  in  interesting  large 
numbers  of  young  men  in  Christian  work  at 
home  and  abroad.  College  revivals  and  spir- 
itual awakenings  accompanying  the  activities 
of  these  Associations  are  also  helpful  in  the 
same  direction.  And  besides  all  this  it  would 
be  difficult  to  overstate  the  mighty  reflex  effect 
of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign 


1 64  FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

Missions  in  influencing  young  men  who  cannot 
go  abroad,  to  enter  the  ministry  at  home. 

The  branches  of  the  Student  Movement  which 
are  estabHshed  in  the  theological  seminaries  are 
naturally  exerting  a  helpful  influence.  These  As- 
sociations send  out  to  visit  the  colleges,  from  time 
to  time,  deputations  of  theological  students  who 
are  qualified  to  go  with  special  power  and  help- 
fulness to  college  students.  Often  they  are  made 
up  of  men  who,  while  undergraduates  in  the  col- 
leges visited,  were  influential  because  of  their 
athletic  or  other  prominence.  These  deputations 
hold  meetings,  but  give  even  more  attention  to 
personal  interviews  with  students  to  whom  they 
may  have  special  access.  Seminary  students  are 
also  asked  to  correspond  with  capable  students 
in  the  colleges  and  with  other  young  men  of  abil- 
ity over  whom  they  have  some  special  influence. 
One  of  the  leading  theological  seminaries  in  the 
South  reports  that  the  majority  of  their  students 
were  influenced  to  enter  the  ministry  by  fellow 
students  in  college,  or  by  graduates  of  the  sem- 
inary. At  the  conferences  of  students  from  As- 
sociations in  theological  seminaries,  the  problem 
of  securing  men  for  the  ministry  is  always  dis- 
cussed and  the  delegates  are  urged  to  cooperate. 


THE   PROPAGANDA  165 

The  Student  IMovement  holds  conferences 
which  have  a  very  helpful  bearing  on  accomplish- 
ing the  end  here  in  view.  At  the  annual  confer- 
ence of  the  national  and  state  traveling  secre- 
taries of  the  IMovement,  the  matter  of  enlisting 
college  men  for  the  ministry  is  always  considered. 
It  means  much  to  have  the  sympathetic  and  ac- 
tive cooperation  of  these  workers  in  the  colleges 
who  now  number  over  forty.  A  helpful  confer- 
ence has  been  held  annually  for  several  years 
under  the  joint  auspices  of  the  Associations  at 
Yale,  Hartford,  and  Union  theological  semi- 
naries, in  the  interest  of  winning  strong  college 
men  for  the  ministry.  These  conferences  bring 
together  a  limited  number  of  the  leading  Chris- 
tian college  men  to  devote  two  or  three  days  to 
the  consideration  of  different  aspects  of  the  work 
of  the  ministry.  At  these  gatherings  some  of 
the  best  addresses  on  the  ministry  given  in  re- 
cent years  have  been  presented. 

Most  important  of  all  student  gatherings  are 
the  summer  and  winter  training  conferences  of 
the  Movement.  There  are  now  eight  of  these 
gatherings  each  year,  attended  by  over  two  thou- 
sand of  the  foremost  Christian  men  of  the  col- 
leges of  North  America.    This  number  includes, 


1 66  FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

as  a  rule,  nearly  all  of  the  men  chosen  by  their 
fellow  students  to  lead  the  voluntary  Christian 
activities  of  the  colleges  during  the  following 
year.  At  each  of  these  conferences  the  ministry 
is  ably  presented  by  at  least  one  prominent  min- 
ister. At  the  larger  conferences,  in  addition  to 
this  public  presentation  before  all  the  delegates, 
there  is  held  a  ministerial  institute,  meeting  from 
day  to  day  and  attended  by  men  who  think  of 
entering  the  ministry,  where  under  wise  leader- 
ship the  call,  qualifications,  preparation,  work, 
and  perils  of  the  ministry  are  considered.  Much 
personal  work  is  carried  on  from  day  to  day. 

Some  of  the  best  men  from  the  seminaries 
or  from  the  ranks  of  those  who  have  recently 
entered  the  ministry  go  to  these  conferences, 
unselfishly  to  devote  themselves  to  this  vitally 
important  work.  Among  the  speakers  on  the 
platforms  are  some  of  the  leading  Christian  min- 
isters of  the  day.  The  influence  of  these  men 
as  object  lessons  of  the  best  type  of  the  Chris- 
tian minister  is  great  indeed.  The  Christian  fel- 
lowship, the  prominence  given  to  the  ideas  and 
plans  of  the  Kingdom,  and  the  time  for  unhur- 
ried meditation  and  prayer  make  the  conditions 
favorable  for  discovering  and  obeying  God's  will. 


THE   PROPAGANDA  167 

It  may  be  stated  confidently  that  more  young 
men  of  college  age  have  been  led  to  enter  the 
ministry  as  a  result  of  visions  seen  and  obeyed 
on  Round  Top  at  Northfield,  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Geneva,  Wisconsin,  and  on  the  hills  about 
Asheville,  North  Carolina,  than  in  any  other 
three  places  in  North  America. 

The  Student  Movement  has  not  been  without 
its  influence  on  the  Church  as  a  whole  in  the  ef- 
fort to  secure  ministerial  recruits.  Under  its 
auspices  have  been  held  important  conferences 
of  leaders  of  the  various  Christian  communions 
of  the  United  States  and  Canada  to  discuss  the 
reasons  why  more  of  the  strongest  men  do  not 
enter  the  ministry,  and  the  means  to  be  employed 
in  influencing  m.ore  such  men  to  do  so.  These 
discussions  have  given  wise  direction  to  the  re- 
cent plans  and  activities  of  the  Associations. 
Correspondence  has  been  conducted  with  many 
editors  of  the  religious  press  which  has  resulted 
in  a  more  helpful  treatment  of  the  problem  in 
a  number  of  the  official  periodicals  of  the 
churches.  In  connection  with  the  call  for  the 
observance  of  the  Universal  Day  of  Prayer  for 
Students,  the  Christian  ministers  of  North  Amer- 
ica have  been  appealed  to  from  year  to  year  to 


1 68     FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

enlist  prayer  for  laborers  and  to  preach  sermons 
designed  to  lead  young  men  to  consider  the 
claims  of  this  form  of  service,  and  to  influence 
parents  to  consecrate  their  children  to  the  work 
of  the  Lord. 

Not  all  of  the  Student  Associations  in  the  col- 
leges are  doing  the  things  which  have  been  men- 
tioned. As  yet  only  a  minority  of  them  can  be 
said  to  be  employing  these  various  means  for 
awakening  and  developing  interest  in  the  Chris- 
tian ministry,  but  happily  their  number  is  ever 
increasing.  Moreover,  no  Student  Association 
has  done  all  the  things  indicated  through  a  long 
period  of  years.  While  some  of  the  methods 
have  been  in  operation  for  nearly  a  generation 
in  a  few  of  the  colleges,  it  has  only  been  within 
the  past  decade  that  the  larger  part  of  this  pro- 
gramme has  been  put  into  operation  in  any  insti- 
tution. The  sections  of  the  country  in  which  the 
most  practical  interest  has  been  developed  are  the 
South  and  the  Pacific  Coast.  The  Student  Move- 
ment has  been  proceeding  with  conservatism, 
doubtless  with  too  much  conservatism.  It  has 
not  done  all  it  should  have  done  to  meet  the 
great  need  of  the  Church  for  leaders  on  the 
home  field.    It  has,  through  the  Student  Volun- 


THE   PROPAGANDA  169 

teer  Movement,  rendered  an  enormous  service  to 
the  Church  on  the  foreign  mission  field.  This 
ought  it  to  have  done  and  not  to  have  left  the 
other  undone.  Lest,  however,  a  misleading  im- 
pression be  made  with  reference  to  the  part  of 
the  Student  Movement  in  securing  men  for  the 
ministry,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  while, 
with  the  exception  of  Christian  professors,  it 
can  do  more  than  any  other  agency  in  influ- 
encing men  during  the  years  of  college  life, 
the  decision  of  the  question  of  one's  life-work 
will  continue  to  be  practically  determined  in  most 
cases  before  entering  college  and,  therefore,  be- 
fore this  Movement  can  bring  its  influence  to 
bear.  The  influence  of  the  Student  Movement, 
therefore,  can  never  be  so  great  as  that  of  the 
home  and  that  of  Christian  ministers ;  neverthe- 
less, it  can  and  should  render  increasing  service 
in  upholding  the  hands  of  these  and  all  other 
agencies. 

The  wise  use  of  literature  bearing  on  the  min- 
istry and  the  work  of  the  Church,  is  an  effective 
agency  to  influence  men  to  enter  the  ministry. 
In  recommending  certain  books  and  other  publi- 
cations the  following  objects  have  been  kept  in 
mind :  to  impress  the  best  men  with  the  dignity, 


I70  FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

vital  importance,  and  enduring  character  of  the 
work  of  the  Christian  minister ;  to  lead  them  to 
see  the  need  in  our  day  that  young  men  of  large 
caliber  devote  themselves  to  the  ministry;  and 
to  reveal  and  communicate  the  spirit  of  the 
Christian  ministry,  thus  serving  to  attract  men 
to  this  calling. 

Some  of  the  books  best  adapted  to  give  earnest 
men  a  true  and  high  conception  of  the  Christian 
ministry  are :  "  Lectures  on  Preaching,"  by  Phil- 
lips Brooks  ;  "  Lectures  on  Preaching,"  by  Bishop 
Simpson ;  and  "  The  Christian  Ministry,"  by  Ly- 
man Abbott. 

Among  the  many  books  which  help  to  give  an 
adequate  idea  of  the  wonderful  opportunities  of 
the  Christian  ministry,  and  especially  the  need  for 
more  of  the  strongest  men  in  this  calling,  might 
be  named :  *'  Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis," 
by  Rauschenbusch ;  "  The  Social  Message  of  the 
Modern  Pulpit,"  by  Brown ;  "  The  Church  and 
the  Changing  Order,"  by  Mathews ;  "  Recon- 
struction in  Theology,"  by  King ;  "  The  Gospel 
for  an  Age  of  Doubt,"  by  Van  Dyke;  "The 
Challenge  of  the  City,"  by  Strong;  "The  Ad- 
ministration of  an  Institutional  Church,"  by 
Hodges  and  Reichert ;  "  Chapters  in  Rural  Prog- 


THE   PROPAGANDA  171 

ress,"  by  Butterfield;  ''The  Country  Town," 
by  Anderson ;  and  "  Aliens  or  Americans  ?  "  by 
Grose. 

Experience  shows  that  the  books  which  are 
best  calculated  to  reveal  and  communicate  the 
spirit  of  the  ministry  are  biographies  of  great 
ministers.  Among  many  which  might  be  men- 
tioned, attention  is  called  to  the  following  biog- 
raphies which  possess  merit  not  only  because  of 
their  subjects,  but  also  on  account  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  are  written :  "  Phillips  Brooks," 
by  Allen ;  "  Charles  Kingsley — His  Letters  and 
Memories  of  His  Life,"  edited  by  Mrs.  Kingsley ; 
"  Bishop  Selwyn,"  by  Curteis ;  "  Life  and  Let- 
ters of  Brooke  Foss  Westcott,"  by  Arthur  West- 
cott ;  "  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of 
Thomas  Chalmers,"  by  Hanna ;  "  Memoir  of 
Norman  Macleod,"  by  Donald  Macleod ;  "  Will- 
iam Ross,  of  Cowcaddens,"  by  J.  M.  E.  Ross; 
"  The  Life  of  James  Hood  Wilson,"  by  Wells ; 
"  The  Life  of  George  Matheson,"  by  Macmil- 
lan ;  "  Newman  Hall,  an  Autobiography  " ;  "  The 
Life  of  R.  W.  Dale,"  by  his  son;  "  Henry  Ward 
Beecher,"  by  Abbott ;  "  Life  and  Letters  of  Hor- 
ace Bushnell,"  by  Mrs.  Cheney ;  "  Memoirs  of 
Rev.  Charles   G.  Finney,"   written  by   himself; 


172    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

"  The  Life  of  John  Wesley/'  by  Winchester ;  and 
''  The  Life  of  Bishop  Matthew  Simpson,"  by 
Crooks. 

While  very  many  pamphlets  have  been  writ- 
ten on  the  claims  of  the  Christian  ministry  and 
different  aspects  of  the  work  of  the  minister, 
unfortunately  little  of  this  material  can  be  rec- 
ommended for  wide  use.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  we  have  for  the  present  time  no  such  mas- 
terly presentation  of  the  claims  of  the  ministry 
to  place  in  the  hands  of  gifted  young  men  as  the 
booklet  by  President  Francis  Wayland,  of  Brown 
University,  on  "  The  Apostolic  Ministry,"  which 
rendered  such  a  great  service  to  young  men  two 
generations  ago.^  One  of  the  most  useful  small 
books  for  young  men  who  are  seriously  consid- 
ering the  possibility  of  devoting  themselves  to  the 
ministry,  as  well  as  for  those  who  have  already 
decided  the  question,  is  "  Preparation  for  the 
Christian  Ministry,"  by  various  authors,  a  small 
volume  issued  by  the  Student  Christian  Move- 
ment of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  Extended 
investigations  show  that  literature  such  as  is 
here  recommended,  if  wisely  used,  often  results 

» The  author  is  attempting  to  meet  this  need  by  editing  a 
series  of  pamphlets  by  leaders  in  the  Church. 


THE   PROPAGANDA  1 73 

in  turning  the  steps  of  young  men  into  the  min- 
isterial calHng. 

A  statesmanlike  policy  with  reference  to  se- 
curing for  the  ministry  more  men  of  exceptional 
gifts  should  be  devised  and  carried  out  by 
the  various  Christian  communions  through  their 
ecclesiastical  councils,  societies,  and  other  agen- 
cies. There  is  great  need  of  authoritative  action 
on  the  subject  by  the  different  Christian  bodies. 
A  recent  writer  makes  an  imsatis factory  state- 
ment of  the  situation  when  he  speaks  of  "  the 
helpless  and  pitiful  quest  for  men  for  the  minis- 
try, and  the  general  attitude  of  hopelessness  with 
which  the  whole  question  is  being  handled  by 
those  whose  business  it  would  seem  to  be  to  solve 
the  question."  Where  an  actual  quest  has  been 
made  for  men  it  has  been  far  from  being  "  help- 
less and  pitiful."  Moreover,  one  does  not  dis- 
cover an  attitude  of  "  hopelessness  "  characteriz- 
ing those  whose  business  it  should  be  to  solve 
the  question,  for  the  sufficient  reason  that  in  most 
churches  the  whole  question  is  not  being  handled. 

The  impression  made  on  my  mind,  as  I  have 
investigated  what  is  being  done  in  the  different 
Christian  communions,  involving  a  careful  exam- 
ination of  the  official  proceedings  of  the  ecclesi- 


174  FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

astical  bodies  of  North  America  for  a  genera- 
tion, and  in  some  cases  a  longer  period,  is  that 
too  often  the  whole  matter  has  been  neglected 
or  the  efforts  have  been  conflicting  and  unre- 
lated. Many  detached  efforts  are  being  put 
forth  by  some  societies,  by  certain  theological 
seminaries,  by  a  few  editors,  and  by  other  indi- 
viduals here  and  there.  There  is  very  great 
need  of  concerted  action.  There  is  wanted  in 
most  Christian  denominations  a  single,  well 
thought  out,  comprehensive  policy  or  plan  cov- 
ering the  whole  ground  from  the  human  side 
and  into  which  all  subsidiary  efforts  may  be 
fitted.^  We  cannot  achieve  satisfactory  results 
while  we  leave  the  problem  to  be  grappled  with 
by  the  theological  seminaries  alone,  by  the  min- 
isters working  by  themselves  apart  from  the 
laymen,  by  the  editors  working  alone,  by  the 
Student  Christian  Movement  by  itself,  or  by  in- 
fluential individuals  each  working  apart  from 
others.  All  the  forces  of  a  given  Christian  com- 
munion need  to  be  united  on  a  policy,  if  certain 
of  the   difficulties   or   misconceptions   are  to  be 

'  A  good  example  of  a  comprehensive  policy  for  a  church  is 
that  for  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  as  outlined  by  J.  Del- 
brel,  S.J.,  in  his  recent  book,  "Pour  repeupler  Nos  Semi- 
naires." 


THE   PROPAGANDA  175 

overcome  or  neutralized,  and  if  the  whole  situa- 
tion is  to  be  adequately  treated.  Does  anyone 
think  that  if  the  best  men  of  a  given  denomi- 
nation were  to  unite  on  the  solution  of  this  prob- 
lem, their  concerted  study,  efforts,  and  prayers 
would  be  unsuccessful?  If  so,  he  is  ignorant  of 
church  history. 

Any  statesmanlike  plan  should  originate,  as  a 
rule,  in  the  official  ecclesiastical  assembly  of  a 
particular  Christian  communion.  This  will  put 
behind  the  policy  the  united  force  of  the  church. 
What  problem  should  receive  more  continuous  or 
more  able  attention  at  the  hands  of  our  assem- 
blies, conferences,  and  councils?  Some  ecclesi- 
astical bodies  have  power  to  make  such  a  plan 
and  to  execute  it.  Even  those  that  have  not  such 
authority  can  at  least  institute  a  thorough  inves- 
tigation of  conditions  and  make  recommenda- 
tions to  those  concerned.  Professor  Willis  G. 
Craig,  of  McCormick  Theological  Seminary,  at 
a  conference  in  Chicago,  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  during  the  past  forty  years  he  had 
known  two  periods  of  marked  decline  in  the  min- 
isterial supply  of  the  Presbyterian  Church;  that 
each  time  the  General  Assembly  grappled  with 
the  matter  thoroughly  and  appealed  to  the  entire 


176    FUTURE  LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

minstry  to  cooperate  in  meeting  the  need;  and 
as  a  result  the  difficulty  in  each  case  yielded  to 
treatment. 

What  are  some  of  the  agencies  to  be  em- 
ployed by  different  Christian  communions  to 
help  carry  out  any  policy  which  may  be 
adopted?  There  should  be  special  commissions 
appointed  to  investigate  with  scientific  thor- 
oughness conditions  and  experiences  within  the 
denomination  and  to  report  their  findings  and 
recommendations.^  In  studying  the  official  rec- 
ords of  the  various  denominations,  one  is  im- 
pressed with  the  fact  that  in  most  cases  there 
is  a  woeful  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  actual  situ- 
ation and  of  what  has  been  attempted  and  done. 
In  a  matter  of  such  importance,  commissions 
should  not  be  content  with  sending  out  a  ques- 
tionnaire. They  should  take  time  and  trouble  to 
visit  important  men  and  institutions  and  to  hold 
thorough  interviews  and  conferences.  The  in- 
vestigations should  cover  such  ground  as:  the 
need  for  men — present  and  prospective;  the  ap- 
\      parent  sources  of  supply — ^number  and  quality; 

\  *  The  scope  and  instructions  of  such  a  commission  are  well 

\     illustrated  in  "The  National  Council  of  the  Congregational 
\    Churches  of  the  United  States"  (1907),  p.  351. 


THE  PROPAGANDA  177 

the  various  obstacles  in  the  way  of  securing 
strong  men  for  the  ministry  and  an  estimate  of 
their  relative  importance ;  the  means  employed 
to  discover  and  enlist  young  men,  and  their  ef- 
ficiency; the  experience  of  other  Christian 
bodies,  especially  of  those  similarly  situated; 
and  the  definite  ways  in  which  the  Church 
should  seek  to  meet  the  situation. 

Reports  should  be  obtained  annually  from 
each  parish  showing  the  number  of  young  men 
coming  forward  for  the  Christian  ministry  and 
for  other  forms  of  Christian  service.  It  is 
deemed  desirable  to  gather  reports  from  all  the 
churches  each  year  covering  their  financial 
contributions.  Surely  this  matter  warrants  like 
regular  and  thorough  reports.  They  would 
serve  as  a  constant  reminder  and  stimulus  as 
well  as  afiford  a  basis  for  useful  information. 

Appeals  might  be  issued  from  time  to  time 
by  boards  of  bishops,  moderators  of  assem- 
blies and  councils,  and  other  prominent  church 
leaders.  Let  these  appeals  be  addressed  to  dif- 
ferent classes  as  occasion  requires;  for  example, 
to  the  ministers  of  the  denomination,  to  Chris- 
tian teachers  and  professors,  or  to  Christian 
students.     Only  recently  one  of  the  denomina- 


178    FUTURE  LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

tions  in  Canada  sent  an  impressive  and  con- 
vincing appeal  to  all  the  Christian  students  of 
that  denomination,  calling  for  workers  to  meet 
the  needs  and  opportunity  in  the  Canadian 
West.  This  helped  to  discover  a  number  of 
very  useful  workers.  These  appeals  should  be 
timely  and  convincing.  They  should  not  be 
buried  away  in  the  midst  of  long  pastoral  letters. 

In  any  campaign  like  this,  if  it  is  to  succeed, 
the  cooperation  of  the  religious  press  is  indis- 
pensable. The  scanning  of  the  files  of  the 
principal  religious  periodicals  of  the  United 
States,  Canada,  and  Great  Britain  shows  that 
among  those  which  have  been  rendering  the 
most  sustained  and  effective  help,  both  in  the 
thoroughness  of  attention  given  to  the  matter 
editorially  and  also  in  the  quality  of  the  articles 
secured  from  others,  are  The  Standard  of  Chi- 
cago, The  Congregationalist  of  Boston,  The 
Churchman  of  New  York,  The  Presbyterian  of 
Toronto,  and  The  Guardian  of  London. 

Educational  societies  and  corresponding  or- 
ganizations in  connection  with  different  Chris- 
tian churches,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  are 
in  a  position  to  accomplish  a  large  service  in 
enlisting  ministerial  candidates.     Some  of  them 


THE   PROPAGANDA  1 79 

have  done  so  and  are  still  doing  so.  Others 
do  not  seem  to  be  as  efficient  as  they  were  in 
the  early  years  of  their  history.  Such  societies 
should  be  very  ably  led  and  liberally  supported. 
They  should  not  be  regarded  as  a  place  for 
shelving  certain  ministers,  nor  as  a  stepping- 
stone  to  other  positions.  In  some  denomina- 
tions the  extent  and  character  of  the  field  may 
warrant  the  employment  by  this  society  of  a 
secretary  or  special  representative  to  interest 
young  men  in  the  work  of  the  ministry.  He 
will,  of  course,  avail  himself  of  the  cooperation 
of  the  Christian  Student  Movement  because  of 
the  advantages  which  that  agency  possesses  for 
rendering  service  to  the  Church. 

At  times  it  may  be  wise  for  the  denomination 
to  send  a  w^ell-qualified  deputation  to  visit  the 
colleges,  especially  those  connected  with  that 
denomination,  to  awaken  interest  in  the  min- 
istry among  students,  professors,  and  pastors 
of  neighboring  churches.  The  Congregational 
denomination  has  carried  out  this  plan  at  differ- 
ent times.  For  reasons  which  will  suggest  them- 
selves, the  approach  of  denominational  deputa- 
tions and  representatives  to  state  institutions 
had  best  be  through  the  Christian  Association 


i8o    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

and  through  the  pastors  of  the  denomination  in 
the  college  community. 

Special  legislation  by  the  various  ecclesiasti- 
cal bodies  will  be  required  to  meet  certain  diffi- 
culties which  stand  in  the  way  of  securing  an 
adequate  supply  of  suitable  ministerial  candi- 
dates. Some  denominations  have  developed 
great  aptitude  in  diagnosis,  but  do  not  seem  to 
have  made  progress  in  therapeutics.  Some 
have  shown  skill  in  the  framing  and  passing  of 
resolutions,  but  have  done  nothing  in  a  prac- 
tical way  to  change  the  situation.  The  situation 
is  deplored  from  time  to  time  but  philosophi- 
cally accepted  and  is  not  grappled  with  in  any 
thoroughgoing  manner.  The  following  are 
some  of  the  questions  which  might  well  receive 
the  attention  of  ecclesiastical  bodies  because  of 
their  bearing  on  the  problem  of  securing  able 
ministerial  recruits :  the  scientific  study  of  the 
large  question  of  demand  and  supply  of  minis- 
terial candidates;  the  wisest  methods  of  helping 
ministerial  candidates  to  solve  the  financial  prob- 
lem involved  in  their  education ;  the  consideration 
of  the  education  and  training  required  to  equip 
young  men  for  the  ministry  to-day;  the  desir- 
ability of  a  closer  affiliation  between  theological 


THE   PROPAGANDA  l8l 

seminaries  and  universities;  methods  of  pre- 
venting weak  and  otherwise  undesirable  young 
men  from  entering  the  ministry;  provision  for 
locating  ministers  of  commanding  ability  in  the 
neighborhood  of  state  and  other  large  unde- 
nominational universities;  the  promotion  among 
young  people  in  our  churches  of  satisfactory  in- 
struction and  study  on  the  needs  and  work  of 
the  Church;  and  the  problem  of  insuring  suit- 
able financial  provision  for  men  in  the  ministry 
and  for  those  who  because  of  old  age  or  physi- 
cal disability  are  obliged  to  retire  from  active 
service. 

A  thoroughly  statesmanlike  policy  at  the 
present  time  calls  for  interdenominational  ac- 
tion, especially  with  reference  to  promoting  the 
movement  of  Christian  cooperation,  federation, 
and  union.  There  is  need  in  many  country  dis- 
tricts of  constraining  small  and  feeble  churches, 
representing  different  denominations,  to  unite 
or  consolidate  into  one  church  in  cases  where 
the  constituency  and  resources  are  not  sufficient 
to  maintain  properly  more  than  one  church. 
When  one  investigates  the  conditions  in  many 
communities  of  one  thousand  people  having  in 
them  from  three  to  seven  churches,  with  re- 


l82  FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

sultant  rivalry,  jealousy,  insufficient  financial 
support,  lack  of  able  leadership,  and  small  re- 
sults, one  cannot  wonder  that  strong  young 
men  do  not  look  with  favor  on  entering  the  min- 
istry involving  as  it  does  living  in  the  midst  of 
such  conditions.  As  Dean  Bosworth  of  Oberlin 
says :  "  A  strong  man  looks  for  a  field  and  not 
a  hole,"  or,  as  Maltbie  Babcock  expressed 
it :  "  They  want  an  arena,  not  a  nest."  They 
do  not  regard  it  as  worth  while  to  spend  their 
lives  on  a  handful  of  village  sectarians  so  long 
as  such  waste  is  unnecessary.  If  it  were  nec- 
essary, experience  shows  that  young  men  are 
willing  to  go  to  the  bleak  coasts  of  Labrador 
to  minister  to  a  few  families  who  otherwise 
would  be  without  any  ministration.  "  Men  do 
not  feel  called  upon,"  as  Dean  George  Hodges 
says,  "  to  endure  hardship  for  the  sake  of  a 
theory  of  church  government."  ^  On  the  other 
hand,  a  village  with  the  surrounding  country 
would  constitute  an  adequate  and  attractive  field 
for  any  able  man  if  there  were  but  one  church 
in  the  territory.  His  position  would  then  be 
like  that  of  the  parish  minister  of  a  former  time. 

>  Letter  in   Archives   of   the   World's   Student   Christian 
Federation.    . 


THE  PROPAGANDA  183 

Union  of  churches  should  be  promoted  so  far 
as  it  can  be  done  without  violating  enUghtened 
conscience  or  weakening  personal  loyalty  to 
Christ  the  Lord.  In  so  far  as  division  is  due 
to  prejudice,  ignorance,  or  unthinking  conserva- 
tism, it  should  go,  but  the  supremacy  of  con- 
science and  the  sense  of  personal  responsibility 
to  Christ  to  maintain  and  to  spread  His  truth 
are  even  more  precious  than  union.  There  is, 
however,  every  reason  why  Christians  united  on 
central  verities  should  cooperate  in  building  up 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 

There  are  such  marked  advantages  from 
uniting  or  consolidating  churches  in  rural  com- 
munities and  in  certain  suburban  communities 
unable  satisfactorily  to  support  more  than  one 
church,  that  the  highest  Christian  statesman- 
ship calls  for  the  carrying  out  of  such  a  policy. 
Such  union  would  make  possible  parishes  the 
size  and  resources  of  which  would  call  forth  the 
full  energies  of  both  ministers  and  members.  It 
would  be  in  the  interests  of  wise  economy,  both 
in  buildings  and  in  running  expenses,  and  at 
the  same  time  would  rnake  possible  more  at- 
tractive places  of  worship  and  better  adapted 
equipment  and  facilities.     It  would  also  insure 


i84  FUTURE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH 

economy  of  effort,  preventing  the  waste  which 
results  from  overlapping  and  friction  and  from 
affording  insufficient  scope  for  all  workers.  It 
would  necessitate  and  make  possible  a  more 
able  and  efficient  leadership  in  preaching,  in 
teaching,  and  in  training — thus  resulting  in  the 
stronger  handling  of  the  possibilities  of  the 
church  in  the  community  and  neighboring  ter- 
ritory. It  would  present  a  united  front  to  the 
forces  which  oppose.  It  would  illustrate  the 
working  and  the  mastery  of  Christian  motives, 
graces,  and  forces.  Some  argue  that  the 
churches  need  the  stimulus  which  comes  from 
competition  among  themselves,  but  surely  there 
is  a  higher  and  more  potent  stimulus — that  of 
vital  union  in  Christ  to  meet  the  deepest  needs 
of  the  people  of  an  entire  community.  More- 
over, this  argument  for  competition  is  contrary 
to  the  finest  examples  of  Christian  experience. 
It  is  certainly  dishonoring  to  supernatural  re- 
ligion. The  overmultiplication  of  churches  and 
the  resultant  division  and  weakness  have  really 
been  a  deterrent  to  the  progress  of  Christian 
faitfi  in  many  a  community.^ 

»  John  Watson,  "The  Cure  of  Souls"   (Lyman    Beecher 
Lectures  on  Preaching  at  Yale  University,  1896),  p.  208  ff. 


THE  PROPAGANDA  185 

Actual  experience  in  connection  with  various 
federal  and  union  efforts  in-  communities  in 
Maine  and  Massachusetts,  as  well  as  in  other 
sections,  proves  convincingly  the  practicability 
and  the  advantages  of  this  policy.^  No  one  who 
examines  with  care  the  results  of  these  experi- 
ments during  the  past  fifteen  years  can  escape 
this  conclusion.  The  question  is  no  longer  aca- 
demic. It  needs  no  prophet  to  foretell  that  this 
movement  in  the  direction  of  federating,  unit- 
ing, and  consolidating  Christian  forces  is  bound 
to  increase  in  volume  and  momentum.  Men 
may  question,  criticise,  and  resist  it,  but  it  can 
no  more  be  held  back  than  the  tides  of  the  sea. 
There  are  tendencies  at  work  which  make  these 
developments  inevitable.  Christian  laymen,  in 
the  light  of  their  own  business  experience,  will 
not  much  longer  be  patient  with  existing  con- 
ditions. The  most  discerning  Christian  minis- 
ters are  themselves  earnest  in  their  advocacy 
of  a  change.  Surely  a  closer  and  more  practi- 
cal drawing  together  of  the  different  bands  and 

»  Raymond  Calkins,  "The  Imperative  Forward  Summons," 
The  Home  Missionary,  Vol.  LXXXI,  p.  290;  "  Forward  Steps 
in  Church  Federation,"  The  Congregationalist,  Vol.  XCIII, 
p.  176;  "The  Interdenominational  Commission  of  Maine" 
(published  by  the  Commission  in  Lewiston,  Maine,  1906). 


l86    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

companies  of  His  followers  cannot  but  be  pleas- 
ing to  our  Lord  and  Master. 

The  foreign  missionary  achievements  of  the 
Church  in  Asia,  Africa,  and  Latin  America  in 
respect  to  division  of  the  field,  Christian  comity, 
cooperative  effort,  and  union  schemes  in  educa- 
tion, philanthropy,  and  evangelization  have  been 
such  as  to  afford  convincing  and  inspiring  evi- 
dence in  favor  of  the  wide  application  of  the 
same  principles  and  methods  on  the  home  field. 
How  much  better  and  wiser  it  will  be,  instead 
of  resisting  this  triumphant  and  inevitable  move- 
ment, or  by  indifference  and  inaction  prolonging 
the  period  of  waste,  inefficiency,  and  failure,  to 
exercise  true  statesmanship  in  aggressive,  mas- 
terly efforts  to  bring  about  this  desirable  coop- 
eration, federation,  and  consolidation.  When  it  is 
known  that  our  different  Christian  communions 
are  moving  in  this  direction  the  fact  will  greatly 
facilitate  the  work  of  attracting  men  of  the  high- 
est qualifications  to  the  Christian  ministry. 

In  all  the  direct  efforts  put  forth  to  secure 
men  for  the  Christian  ministry,  whether  by 
ministers  themselves,  by  teachers  and  profess- 
ors, by  the  Christian  Student  Movement,  by 
the  preparation  and  use  of  literature,  or  by  rep- 


THE  PROPAGANDA  187 

resentatives  of  our  different  Christian  com- 
munions acting  in  a  corporate  capacity,  there 
are  a  few  considerations  which  should  be  clearly 
borne  in  mind  and  emphasized. 

Seek  to  get  young  men  to  recognize  the  need 
for  more  men  of  capacity  in  the  ministry,  and 
the  unique  and  unsurpassed  opportunities  for 
service  which  this  calling  affords.  Granted  a 
sense  of  the  profound  need  and  of  the  possi- 
bilities for  usefulness  in  the  ministry,  and  the 
attitude  of  the  young  men  of  our  time  toward 
this  Christlike  work  will  be  revolutionized. 

Make  plain  to  young  men  what  constitutes  a 
call  to  the  ministry  and  how  to  interpret  it. 
There  is  possibly  no  other  subject  of  great  im- 
portance on  which  there  is  more  confusion  of 
thought.  Get  a  sufficient  number  of  young  men 
of  capacity  to  see  and  think  clearly  on  this 
vital  point  and  to  be  obedient  to  the  truth 
involved  in  it,  and  there  will  be  no  lack  of 
qualified  men  offering  themselves  for  the  Chris- 
tian ministry;  for  it  is  inconceivable  that  God 
Himself  has  neglected  to  do  His  part  in  actually 
calling  enough  men  to  accomplish  His  will — 
and  surely  it  is  His  will  that  the  Church  of 
Christ  shall  be  ably  led. 


l88     FUTURE  LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

Do  not  overlook  or  minimize  God's  part  in 
the  calling  of  men.  There  could  be  no  more 
disastrous  mistake  than  to  think  and  to  act  as 
though  it  were  possible  for  men  alone  to  recruit 
the  ranks  of  the  ministry  of  Jesus  Christ.  One 
grave  peril  resulting  from  a  comprehensive 
and  aggressive  policy  of  enhsting  ministerial 
candidates,  such  as  has  been  outlined,  is  that 
the  impulse  to  enter  the  ministry  may  be  made 
mechanical  instead  of  deeply  spiritual;  that  out- 
ward human  suggestion  may  too  largely  replace 
inward  prompting  of  the  Spirit.  Only  God  can 
eflfectually  call  men  into  this  service.  It  is  the 
sovereign  work  of  His  Spirit  to  separate  men 
unto  the  work  whereunto  He  has  called  them. 
Though  it  is  the  obvious  duty  of  men  to  do  all 
and  more  than  has  been  thus  far  suggested,  the 
thought  should  be  ever  with  those  who  have 
any  part  in  this  effort,  that  the  real  merit  of 
what  we  do  lies  in  the  fact  that  we  thus  mul- 
tiply the  number  of  channels  through  which 
the  Lord  of  the  harvest  actually  communicates 
His  wishes.  His  impulses.  His  calls  to  the  souls 
of  men.* 

'  As  the  call  to  the  ministry  is  treated  in  one  of  the  series 
of  pamphlets  issued  by  the  Christian  Association  Movement, 
further  treatment  of  the  subject  is  omitted  here. 


THE  PROPAGANDA  189 

Appeal  to  the  heroic  in  young  men.  It  is  at 
this  point  that  so  many  addresses  and  appeals 
on  the  ministry  fail.  The  appeals  which  lay 
hold  of  strong  men  are  not  those  which  set 
forth  the  attractions,  compensations,  and  advan- 
tages of  the  ministry.  A  psychological  study  of 
youth  would  suggest  the  futility  of  this  basis  of 
appeal  as  contrasted  with  that  which  addresses 
itself  to  the  heroic. 

The  call  to  heroism  meets  with  a  heroic  re- 
sponse. Make  the  Gospel  hard  and  you  make  it 
triumphant.  If  it  is  a  choice  between  self- 
sacrifice  and  self-interest,  the  former  will  draw 
the  stronger  men.  In  other  departments  of  life 
it  is  the  appeal  to  the  heroic  which  enlists  strong 
natures.  One  recalls  that  when  Stanley  wanted 
a  few  young  men  to  go  with  him  on  his  last 
perilous  African  tour  he  appealed  for  volunteers, 
and  within  a  few  days  he  had  hundreds  of  eager 
applicants.^  Lieutenant  Shackleton  told  me  that 
when  the  expedition  of  The  Discovery  was 
fitted  out  to  attempt  to  reach  the  South  Pole, 
an  appeal  was  made  for  several  men  to  join  the 
company,  and  virtually  the  entire  Channel  Squad- 
ron volunteered.    Trained  nurses  and  physicians 

>  H.  M.  Stanley,  "In  Darkest  Africa,"  I,  p.  40. 


I90    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH 

are  constantly  exposing  themselves  to  the  dan- 
gers of  serious  contagion,  and  we  look  upon  their 
heroic  conduct  as  a  matter  of  course.  Think  of 
the  young  men  who  left  titles  and  estates,  their 
homes  and  callings,  their  comfort  and  ease,  and 
went  to  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea  to  face  fam- 
ine, exposure,  pestilence,  and  cannon  before  the 
walls  of  Sebastopol.  We  witness  the  same  spec- 
tacle of  heroism  in  every  war. 

In  the  Church  in  other  days  heroic  natures 
have  offered  themselves  for  the  hard  tasks  of 
life.  Has  not  the  Christian  Church  furnished 
an  unbroken  line  of  martyrs  and  confessors? 
Has  not  every  great  battlefield  of  the  Church 
been  won  at  the  cost  of  lives  gladly  given  for 
Christ's  sake  ?  St.  Paul  did  not  shrink  from  his 
call,  even  though  it  was  accompanied  with  the 
warning :  "  I  will  show  him  how  many  things 
he  must  suffer  for  my  name's  sake."  ^  He  had 
this  in  mind  doubtless  when  he  exhorted  Tim- 
othy to  endure  hardness,  that  is,  to  take  his  share 
of  the  sufferings. 

We  see  the  appeal  to  the  heroic  being  hon- 
ored in  the  Church  of  to-day.  Dean  Warren, 
of  the  Boston  University  School  of  Theology, 
1  Acts  ix,  i6. 


THE   PROPAGANDA  191 

was  recently  speaking  of  a  sermon  he  heard 
preached  in  Milan  by  a  Roman  Catholic  friar 
who,  in  appealing  to  the  mothers  in  the  audi- 
ence to  give  their  sons  to  the  Christian  priest- 
hood, pictured  with  great  vividness  the  hard- 
ships of  the  ministry  rather  than  its  delights. 
A  member  of  the  Reformed  Church  Mission 
Board  not  long  since  stated  that  they  were  able 
to  get  more  recruits  for  Arabia,  their  most  dif- 
ficult field,  than  for  any  other  mission.  Professor 
J.  C.  Roper,  of  the  General  Theological  Semi- 
nary of  New  York,  speaking  at  a  gathering  of 
Christian  leaders,  said  that  in  England  in  his  day 
the  ablest  men  offered  themselves  for  Central 
Africa,  and  that,  so  far  as  he  knew,  that  difficult 
field  was  never  undermanned.  He  added  that 
fourteen  of  his  own  classmates  were  buried  there. 
The  Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign 
Missions,  during  its  twenty  years'  history,  has 
had  the  largest  number  of  volunteers  offer  them- 
selves for  the  most  difficult  fields.  In  fact,  the 
principal  secret  of  the  power  and  success  of  this 
Movement  lies  in  the  presentation  of  the  hard- 
ships and  trials,  the  conflicts  and  sacrifices  in- 
volved in  the  world's  evangelization.  Men  of 
heroic  mold  respond  to  this  challenge. 


192    FUTURE   LEADERSHIP    OF  THE   CHURCH 

To  appeal  to  the  heroic  was  Christ's  way.  He 
never  hid  His  scars  to  win  a  disciple.  "  Teacher, 
I  will  follow  thee  whithersoever  thou  goest "  ^ 
..."  Do  you  know  where  I  am  going?  I  am 
going  to  die."  He  held  out  no  assurance  of  an 
easy  career  or  exemption  from  suffering,  sacri- 
fice, and  death.  What  more  wonderful  charge 
was  ever  given  by  a  leader  to  his  followers  than 
that  contained  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  St.  Mat- 
thew? 

"What  he  braved  he  knew — 
Ease,  honor,  glory,  to  the  winds  he  threw: 
On  the  cold  earth  his  Master  had  His  bed, 
Then  why  should  roses  lull  the  servant's  head? 
Shall  he  desire  the  favor  of  the  world 
Whose  bitterest  malice  on  his  Lord  was  hurled?" 

The  call  to  the  Christian  ministry  to-day  is  a 
call  to  the  heroic,  if  it  is  anything.  President 
Eliot,  in  addressing  the  entering  class  of  the 
Harvard  Divinity  School  a  few  years  ago,  char- 
acterized the  ministry  as  "  the  most  adventurous 
of  the  professions."  It  reminds  one  of  the  say- 
ing of  St.  Augustine :  "  There  is  no  work  in  this 
hfe  more  difficult,  toilsome,  and  hazardous,"  - 
than  the  life  of  a  minister.    It  will  require  hero- 

»  Matthew  viii,  19. 

'Migne's  ''Patrologia  Latina,"  XXXIII,  p.  87. 


THE  PROPAGANDA  193 

ism  to  make  Christ  known  and  obeyed  in  the 
cities  of  our  continent ;  to  redeem  the  towns,  vil- 
lages, and  rural  districts ;  to  lay  Christian  foun- 
dations in  the  new  states  and  provinces  of  our 
great  West;  to  grapple  successfully  with  the 
most  serious  social  problems  of  our  day ;  and  to 
wage  a  triumphant  warfare  throughout  the  non- 
Christian  world.  The  call  to  the  ministry  is  a 
call  to  Lucknow  and  Port  Arthur  service.  It  is 
well  that  this  is  so.  The  highest  call  that  comes 
to  young  men,  as  Mazzini  has  said,  is,  **  Come 
and  suffer."  There  is  a  vicarious  element  in 
strong  young  men  which  needs  to  be  called  out 
and  exercised.  There  is  a  deep  truth  in  the  words 
of  Illingworth :  "  The  pleasures  .of  each  genera- 
tion evaporate  in  air ;  it  is  their  pains  that  increase 
the'  spiritual  momentum  of  the  world."  ^ 

1  Essay  on  "Pain"  in  "Lux  Mundi"  (First  Edition), 
p.  124. 


INDEX 


INDEX 

Abbott,  Dr.  Lyman 144 

Advantages   of   consolidating  churches   in   rural  com- 
munities         183 

Agassiz ,      .      .      .      .  141 

Age  limit  in  ministry,  fear  of 94, 95 

Altruistic  professions  appeal  to  young  men    ...       67,  68 

Altruistic  service  leading  men  into  the  ministry  .      .      .  118 

Ames,  Bishop 88 

Anderson,  Bishop,  quoted 148 

Anderson,  Wilbert  L,  {note) 39 

Andover  Band  in  Iowa 27 

Andrews,  Bishop 95 

Appeals  for  recruits 177 

Archbishop  of  Canterbury — 

Appoints  committee  on  supply  of  clergy       .      .      .  136 

Quoted 80 

Archbishop  Nicolai 95 

Asbury,  Bishop 26 

AssembUes,  ecclesiastical,  should  inaugurate  poUcy  for 

getting  recruits 175 

Atmosphere  of  universities  and  colleges,  influence  on  the 

ministry 109-117 

Babcock,  Maltbie — 

Attracts  men  to  ministry 105 

Quoted 182 

Balfour,  quoted 133 

Beecher,  Lyman  , 27 

Bible  study,  influence  on  recruiting  for  the  ministry      .  163 
197 


igS  INDEX 

Biographies  of  ministers — 

List  of 171 

Show  influence  of  Christian  home      .      .      .      .      .  127 

Black,  Professor  Hugh 157 

Books  on  the  ministry,  see  Literature. 

Boston,  percentage  of  Christian  workers  in  four  leading 

denominations  in,  coming  from  the  country     .  37 

Bosworth,  Dean,  quoted 182 

Brock,  Dr 105 

Brooks,  Phillips — 

Influence  of 107 

On  financial  aid  to  candidates 83 

Quoted 17 

Brown,  Dr.  S.  R 155 

Burton,  Professor  E.  D,,  quoted 5 

Bushnell,  Horace 122 

Butterfield  Kenyon  L.  {notes) 38, 40 

Cairns,  D.  S.,  quoted 19 

Calderwood,  Professor  Henry,  quoted        142 

Calkins,  Raymond,  quoted .      .      .  185 

Calvin 47 

Campbell,  R.  J.,  quoted 46 

Canadian  Presbyterian  Church 87 

Candidates  for  the  ministry — 

Decline   in   number   of,   in   Canada,    6;   in   Great 
Britain,  6;  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  9;  on 

the  Continent 8 

Emphasis  on  quality  of 11 

Statistics  regarding 5 

Canterbury,  Archbishop  of,  see  Archbishop  0}  Canterbury. 

Carroll,  H.  K.  {note) 67 

Causes  deterring  young  men  from  the  ministry — 

Attitude  of  Church  toward 98, 99 

Order  of  importance 98 

See  Chapter  III 57 

Chalmers 35 

Chaplain  of  Balliol  College,  Oxford 117 


INDEX  199 

Chicago  Theological  Seminary 124 

Choice  of  studies — 

Influence  of,  on  supply  of  ministers  .      .      .      .        70, 72 

In  preparatory  schools,  affects  choice  of  profession  .  7 1 
Christian  Student  Movement,  see  Young  Men's  Christian 
A  ssociation. 

Chrysostom 47 

Church- 
Attitude  of  laboring  men  toward 44 

Importance  of,  to  society 3 

Necessity  of  leaders  for 4 

Relation  to  denominational  colleges 113 

Relation  to  state  and  undenominational  colleges     .  114 
Church  of  the  Sea  and  Land  in  New  York    ....  118 
Cities- 
Ministers  needed  for 32-36 

Rapid  growth  of 2>3 

Strategic  positions  of 35 

Clark,  President  W.  S 155 

CUflFord,  Dr.  John 146 

Colleges — 

Christian  colleges'  influence  on  supply  of  ministers  1 1 1-113 

Examples 112 

Revivals  and  the  ministry 122,  123 

State  and  undenominational 114-116 

Commissioner  of  Education,  quoted 61 

Commissions   should   be   appointed  to  investigate  con- 
ditions       176 

Commons,  John  R.,  quoted 29 

Courage  in  the  ministry 108 

Courses  of  study,  modern,  influence  of 71 

Craig,  Professor  W.  G.,  quoted 175 

Creighton,  Bishop,  quoted 151 

Curteis,  G.  H.  (note) 144 

Cuyler,  Dr.  Theodore  L ,  95 

Dale,  Dr.  R.  W.,  quoted 63 

Davidson  College,  North  Carolina,  and  the  ministry     .  112 


200  INDEX 

Davis,  Rev.  Ozora  S.,  quoted 31 

Day  of  Prayer  for  students 136 

Decision  for  the  ministry  usually  made  early       .      .      .  126 

Delbrel,  J.  {note),  151;  quoted 174 

Denominational  colleges 111-113 

Difficulties    in    securing    ministerial    candidates,    ad- 
vantage of 100,  lOI 

Disruption  in  Scotland 92 

Doubt  deterring  men  from  the  ministry,  see  Problems, 
Religious. 

Drummond,  Henry 121 

Duncan,  "Rabbi"  John 119 

Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  South  Africa       ....  87 

Dwight,  President  Timothy 122 

Education,  relation  of  minister  to  religious     .      .      .       22,  23 
Educational  societies  should  be  enlisted  in  a  propaganda     1 78 

Edwards,  Jonathan 41 

EUot,  C.  W.— 

Note •  .     .       72 

Quoted 192 

Federation  of  churches — 

Examples  of 185 

Ministers  needed  to  develop 49 

Necessary  under  certain  conditions    ....   181-185 

Financial  provision  for  ministers — 

Canadian  Presbyterian  Church 87 

Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  South  Africa  ...  87 
Inadequate  provision  hinders  some  young  men  .  86-91 
United  Free  Church  of  Scotland 87 

Finney,  Charles  G 27, 122 

Influence  on  ministry 121 

Fiske,  John,  quoted 26 

Foreign  missions — 

Reflex  influence  of,  on  home  ministry  ....  67 
Relation  of  minister  to 5^-53 

Forsyth,  P.  T.,  quoted 21 


INDEX  20I 

Garibaldi 31 

Glengarry  Revival 122 

Glover,  John,  quoted 68 

Gordon,  Dr.  George  A.,  quoted 13, 154 

Grant,  Alexander 27 

Guthrie,  Thomas 35i  87 

Hall,  Gordon 122 

Hanover  College  and  the  ministr>' 112 

Harnack,  Adolf  {-note) 35 

Harper,  W.  R.  {note) 72 

Example  of 154 

Haystack  Prayer  Meeting 122 

Henderson,  Rev.  J.  Bell,  quoted 152 

Heroism — 

Call  to 189-193 

Required  in  ministry 12 

Hodges,  Dean  George,  quoted 182 

Hoge,  James 27 

Home — 

Christian,  influence  of,  on  the  ministry  .      .      .   126-133 

Examples  of,  efifect  of 128-130 

Ministers  may  influence 132 

Hope  College,  Michigan,  and  the  ministry     .      .      .      .     112 
Hughes,  Hugh  Price 36 

Illingworth,  J.  R.,  quoted 21, 193 

Immigration — 

Changes  in  sources  of 29 

Providing  vt^orkers  to  help  immigrants     ....       32 

Relation  of  the  minister  to 27-32 

To  United  States  and  Canada  increasing     ...       28 

Intellectual  freedom  demanded  by  young  men    .      .       76,  77 

Janes,  Captain  L.  L 155 

Jefferson,  Dr.  Charles  E 107 

Jonathan  Edwards  Club  at  Yale 162 


202  INDEX 

Kelly,  Herbert,  quoted 126 

Kelsey,  Professor  F.  W.  (note) 72 

Kingsley,  Charles .     41,47,106 

Knapp,  S.  A.  (note)        24 

Knox,  John 47 

Heroic  spirit  of 12 

Kosciuszko 31 

Kumamoto  Band 155 

Lambeth  Conference,  1908  (note) 99 

Lawrence,  Bishop 157 

Laymen,  desire  of  young  men  to  work  as  .  .  .  61-65 
Legislation  necessary  in  order  to  secure  candidates  .  .  180 
Liberty  of  expression,  curtailment  of,  feared        .      .       76-79 

Lightfoot,  J.  B.,  quoted 4,  22 

Lincoln 31 

Literature  on  ministry — 

Giving  conception  of  the  ministry      ....   170-172 

On  the  claims  of  the  ministry  scanty       ....       97 

Use  of,  in  propaganda  for  the  ministry  .      .      .   169-172 

London,  Bishop  of 36,117 

McDougall,  George 27 

McQuaid,  Bishop,  quoted 127 

Mackenzie,  Professor  E.  A,,  quoted 149 

Maclaren,  Dr.  Alexander 95 

Mahan,  A.  T.  (note) 60 

** Maine's  Hall  of  Fame" 36 

Mansfield  College,  Oxford 109 

Massie,  Professor  Robert  K.,  quoted 148 

Materialistic  spirit — 

Influence  on  young  men 57~6i 

In  religion 60 

Prosperity  of  the  United  States  and  Canada      .      .  57 

Maurice 47 

Mazzini — 

Quoted 193 

Referred  to 31 


INDEX  203 

Meyer,  Dr.  F.  B 105 

Middlebury  College,  Vermont,  and  the  ministry       .      .      112 

Miners,  earnings  of  certain  classes  of 88 

Ministers — 

Able  to  recruit  the  ministry 141-149 

Biographies  of 171 

Misconceptions  regarding  work  of  ...  .  81-86 
Needed  to  deal  with  immigration  problem  .  .  27-32 
Needed  to  deal  with  social  problems  .      .       42-47 

Needed  to  develop  character  in  the  nation  .  .  48-49 
Needed  to  develop  rural  communities  .  .  .  36-42 
Needed  to  develop  a  strong  base  for  the  missionary 

propaganda 50-53 

Needed  to  develop  teaching  and  training  work  .  22-24 
Needed  to  direct  movements  toward  federation  49,  50 
Needed  to  guide  the  life  of  the  cities  .  .  .  32-36 
Needed  to  guide  religious  thinking  ....  18-22 
Needed  to  lay  Christian  foundations  in  West    .       24-27 

Object  lesson  of 105 

Salaries  of,  inadequate 89-91 

Should  magnify  calling 106 

Should  personally  interest  students    ....   145-147 
Ministry — 

Decision  for,  usually  early 126 

Regular  functions  of 17 

Missionaries,  number  of .      .   52, 66 

Missionary  illustrations  of  federation 186 

Missionary  spirit  in  the  home  ministry 53 

Moody,  D.  L.,  influence  on  the  ministry 121 

Moore,  W.  W.  (note) 96 

Moral  requirements  of  ministry  keep  men  from  enter- 
ing            79-81 

Morley,  Samuel,  quoted 141, 142 

Murray,  Dr.  Andrew 129 

Nash,  Professor  Henry  S 107 

Nation,  relation  of  Church  to 48 

National  Council  of  the  Congregational  Churches  {note)  .     176 


204  INDEX 

New  England,  influence  of  Puritan  ministers  in       .      .       26 

New  York,  growth  of 34 

Nicolai,  Archbishop 95 

Opportunity  in  the  non-Christian  world    .      .      .      .       51,52 

Orr,  Professor,  quoted 131 

Oxford  and  Cambridge,  graduates  of,  in  New  England  .       26 

Parents,  attitude  of,  toward  ministry 96 

Illustrated 59 

Park  College,  Missouri,  and  the  ministry       .      .      .      .     112 

Peabody,  Francis  G.,  quoted 20 

Peile,  James  H.  F.  (note) 42 

Peking  University,  ministerial  band  at 155 

Phelps,  Professor  Austin,  quoted 107 

Philanthropic  work  indirectly  influencing  men  for  the 

ministry 117-119 

Policy,  statesmanlike — 

Cooperation  of  press  required 178 

Educational  societies*  part  in,  178;  example  of  .      .176 

Interdenominational  action 181 

Needed 173 

Reqmred 173-186 

Should  originate  in  ecclesiastical  assembly    .      .      .     175 
Special  legislation  sometimes  necessary   .      .      .      .180 

Porter,  President,  quoted 113 

Prayer — 

Day  of 136 

Failure  in 135 

Importance  of,  should  be  urged 136,  137 

Influence  of,  in  recruiting  for  the  ministry    .      .    133-138 
Preparatory  schools,  influence  of,  on  supply  of  ministers.       71 

Press,  cooperation  of 178 

Princeton,  revival  at 123 

Problems,  religious — 

Keeping  men  from  the  ministry 73-76 

Should  impel  men  into  the  ministry  .        .        .         75,  76 
Professions,  increase  in  number  of 62 


INDEX  20$ 

Professors — 

Influence  of,  in  recruiting  for  the  ministry  .      .  150-158 

Responsibilities  of,  in  recruiting  for  the  ministry  .  156-158 

Propaganda  for  the  ministry — 

By  Student  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  .  159-169 

Lack  of 95*98 

Should  be  statesmanlike 173-186 

Rainsford,  Dr.  W.  S.,  quoted 59, 148 

Rainy,  Principal,  quoted 125 

Ramsay,  W.  M.  (note) 30>  35 

Rauschenbusch,  Walter,  quoted 43 

Recruiting  for  the  ministry- 
Appeal  to  heroic  in  men 189-193 

Minister's  part  in 141-149 

Supernatural  element  in 188 

Revivals — 

College,  and  the  ministry 122, 123 

Leading  men  into  the  ministry 1 19-126 

Philosophy  of,  influence  of 124 

Richards,  T.  C,  quoted 122 

Robertson,  James 27 

Rochester,  revival  in .123 

Roper,  Professor  J.  C,  quoted 191 

Ross,  William 35 

Rural  communities — 

Changes  in  character 39 

Importance  of 36, 37 

Men  required  for 40-42 

Moral  conditions  in 38 

St.  Augustine  quoted 192 

Salaries  of  ministers,  see  Ministers. 

Sanders,  President  Frank  K.,  quoted 25 

Sapporo  Band 155 

Savonarola 47 

Schauffler,  Dr.  Henry  A.,  work  in  Cleveland       ...  32 

Schoolmasters,  influence  of 151 


2o6  INDEX 

Scotland,  homes  of 130 

Secular  pursuits  attractive  to  young  men        ,      .      .       61-65 

Selwyn,  Bishop 144 

Sermons  on  the  claims  of  the  ministry  needed      .      .    143-145 
Service — 

Opportunities  other  than  the  ministry  attracting 

young  men 66-70 

Unselfish,  increasing 65 

Sewall,  John  L.,  quoted 31 

Shackleton,  Lieutenant,  quoted 189 

Smith,  Dr.  J.  Henry 128 

Smith,  Professor  George  Adam,  quoted     .      .      .      .    121,  135 
Social  problems — 

Ministers  must  deal  with 42 

Relation  of  Church  to 42-47 

Spring  Street  Presbyterian  Church 118 

Spurgeon 109 

Stalker,  James,  quoted 12 

Stanley,  H.  M.,  quoted 189 

State  and  undenominational  colleges,  see  Colleges. 
Statistics — 

Regarding  denominational  colleges     ....    111-113 
Regarding  increase  of  divinity  and  other  students 

(1870-1906) 61 

Stearns,  President 153 

Steiner,  Edward  A.  {note) 31 

Student  Movement,  see  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation. 
Student  Volunteer  Movement — 

As  indirect  influence 163 

As  recruiting  agency 66 

Number  of  volunteers 66 

Relation  of,  to  ministry 66 

Undenominational  colleges 115 

Supernatural  element  in  calling  men 188 

Tauler,  John,  referred  to 108 

Taylor,  Professor  Graham 123,  124 


INDEX  207 

Teachers,  see  Professors. 
Theological  seminaries — 

Need  for  adjusting  courses  of 72 

Requirements  of  entrance  into,  affect  young  men      70,  71 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in    .      .  .     164 

Theological  students — 

Financial  aid  for 82-86 

Financial  aid  for,  looked  on  with  disfavor    ...       82 
Theological  unrest,  relation  of  minister  to      .      .      ,        18-20 

Tomlinson,  E.  T.,  quoted 83 

Toronto,  growth  of 33 

Tucker,  W.  J.  {note) 64 

Tyler,  Professor  Moses  Coit 153 

Tyler,  W.  S.,  quoted 122 

United  Free  Church  of  Scotland 87 

Van  Dyke,  Dr.  Henry 144 

Van  Dyke,  Professor  Henry,  quoted 59 

Vaughan,  R.  A.,  quoted 108 

Victoria  University,  Toronto,  and  the  ministry     .      .      .  112 
Volunteers,  Student,  see  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 

Warren,  Dean,  quoted 190 

Washington 31 

Watson,  John  {note) 184 

Way  land.  President  Francis 172 

Wells,  George  Frederick  {note) 39,  40 

Wells,  James  {-note) 142 

Wesley,  John 47 

West,  importance  of,  at  the  present  time        ...       24,  25 

Westcott,  Bishop 128 

West  Point  Military  Academy  cited  as  an  example    .      .       84 

Whipple,  Bishop 27 

Whitfield's  influence  on  the  ministry 121 

Whitman,  Marcus 27 

Whyte,  Dr.  Alexander 95,  109 

Wilberforce,  William 128 

Wilkinson,  David  H.  D.  {note) 119 


2o8  INDEX 

Williams,  revival  at 122 

Wilson,  Dr.  James  Hood 148 

Wilson,  President  Woodrow,  quoted    .      .      .      .      .      .        12 

Woolsey,  President,  quoted 37 

Wrong  attitude  of  society  towards  ministry  diverts  young 

men 80,  81 

Yale,  revival  at 122 

Yokohama  Band 155 

Young   Men's  Christian  Association — 

And  undenominational  colleges 115 

Conferences  under  auspices  of 165-167 

Influence  of,  on  the  supply  of  ministers        ...       69 

Influence  on  the  Church 158-169 

Recruiting  for  the  ministry 158, 159 

Secretaryship  of 68,  69 

Statistics •  ....     158 


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